Crosscurrent
by Doppler Effect
Summary: After a series of events that left them with no families to go home to and with Pitch Black running free, five regular teenagers became something else entirely to protect the children of Burgess - legends. (AU with human RotG characters)
1. Prologue

**December 30**

"That's what ya get fer runnin' around barefoot," Aster said smugly, leaning back against the chair with his arms folded behind his head. Jack scowled at him and then went back to inspecting his feet. They were both scratched and bloodied from doing exactly as his friend had warned against. "Could ya have run around like a normal person? Nope, not you."

"I was busy worrying about other things than my feet, thanks," Jack muttered, dropping his feet back down to the ground. His reference to the violent conflict the two of them and about thirty other people had been involved in two days ago didn't provoke much of a response from Aster. "I heard Pitch escaped from the police. He's on the run."

Aster frowned. "When did ya hear about that?"

"When you were asleep this morning. Windy came in and told me. I could barely tell what she was saying through all the profanity."

"She's kinda protective 'a ya. Of course she'll be mad he got off clean." Aster nodded at Jack's feet. "Honestly, I didn't expect the snow would tear yer feet ta shreds like that. Does it hurt?"

"Aster, does it _look_ like it hurts?" Jack said sarcastically.

The Australian shrugged. "Think we're goin' ta get inta a fight with Pitch again?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I do. He wasn't very happy with me and we did just kinda ruin his life."

"_You_ ruined his life. We just happened ta be helpin' ya."

Jack snorted. Aster reached over and grabbed his friend's head, bringing it closer. Jack tried to bat his hand away but Aster held on. He leaned in closer, ruffling his fingers through Jack's hair curiously. "Tryin' ta see how much ya've got left."

"Got left of _what_?"

"Brown hair." Aster let him go. "It's all white. Ya think that's from when ya almost drowned?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." The shock of near death had killed the color pigments in his hair, and over the last few months, the white hair that had grown in had entirely replaced the original brown. Jack glanced sideways out of the kitchen. "Think we should ever tell the others about that experience?"

Aster rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his fist. He stared at the entry way for a second with his friend. The two looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Nah." They both grinned, and Jack stood up, walking over towards the refrigerator. Aster glanced down and then groaned. "Jack, yer trackin' blood all over the floors _again_."

Jack waved it off. "Hey, you hungry? You slept, like, two days straight."

"Yeah, because some gumby thought it'd be fun ta attack the nearest fear lord an' make 'im mad. I had ta run around with that idiot all day on Christmas Eve. Know 'im?"

"I think the term you were looking for was 'drug lord', not 'fear lord'," Jack replied. He looked inside the refrigerator for a second, trying to find any food left. "I don't think Windy's used to feeding five kids."

Wendy "Wind" Cook was the police officer they had been spending the last few days with. She had nearly arrested Jack for something once, and somehow a chain of events had led to her being a guardian angel for him, giving him a metaphorical lift multiple times to get him back on his feet when something bad was going on. She had been involved in the recent fight and had offered her home up to Jack and his four friends. At risk to her own career, she had avoided telling anyone about their location. In the fight, both sides had broken some laws, and were now being searched for by the police. Pitch had already threatened to harm any family or friends they had, and they were hoping to keep them safe this way.

"Guess we won't be eating…" Jack said in an odd tone. Aster gave him a suspicious look. "Hey, Aster. Are the other three asleep? I know Sandy was a few hours ago."

"Jack, whatever yer about ta say… It's a bad idea." He glanced down at the floor as Baby Tooth, Ana's cat, walked in and rubbed up against Aster's leg. "Besides, ya'd freak out the officer lady if she came back an' we were gone." He reached down and rubbed Baby Tooth's neck. She purred and jumped up onto his lap. "…Does it involve getting' food?"

"As a matter of fact, it does," Jack said, leaning back against the counter. "Want to pay a visit to my home?"

Aster looked up at him sharply. "No. No, we are _not _goin' there. Not ever."

Jack groaned, looking up at the ceiling in frustration. "Aster, no one lives there anymore. It's perfectly safe." The last time he had been home with his family, his father had tried to kill him. Aster had stopped it from happening, and the two had in turn landed the Jack's father in the hospital. They had both gone there, having suffered injuries themselves, and had been tended to by Dr. Moon. Since then, his mother had fled without a word, his father had been arrested, and his sister had gone to stay with an aunt and uncle.

Aster didn't look satisfied. He set Baby Tooth down and stood up. "It's still not a good idea."

"So, we're going?" Jack said cheekily.

"I'll write a note. Hurry up an' grab a coat." Jack grinned and ran out of the room. Aster eyed his foot prints. "An' some shoes!" He grabbed a pad of paper off the counter and hastily scribbled out a note. He heard Baby Tooth mewl behind him but ignored her for the time being. Staying away from the windows and only moving around during the night had driven him nuts, even though he had been asleep most of the time. It made him twitchy and irritable.

He turned around and jumped when he saw Sandy standing there. Sandy raised an eyebrow, not accusing but just speculative. Aster bit back a curse and folded his arms, acting like he wasn't about to do something he wasn't supposed to. "What? You wanna come with?"

Sandy thought about it for a second, shrugged, and then nodded.

"Alright, Jack, Sandy's comin' with!"

-.-.-.-

The three cut through the forest on the outskirts of the north-east side of town to avoid anyone who might be walking around late at night. It was unlikely but not worth the chance. Besides, it was faster this way to get to Jack's house. The leaves crunched underfoot, and they were never very far from the sounds of one of the several rivers that ran through the forest. The entire thing was covered in a beautiful coat of snow. It was easy to get lost here, but they had all wandered around it enough times to not lose their way.

Jack knew the way the best, sure-footedly leading them in the direction of his house. It took them about half an hour to get there, but the walk was worth it if only for the sight of the forest. They approached it from the back, not even bothering to conceal themselves since no one was home. Jack tried the back door. It was locked.

"I'll bet a window's open-" Aster began.

Jack kicked the bottom of the door, simultaneously pulling up on the handle. Then he pushed down and opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at Aster. The Australian scowled at him. "The lock was never very good," Jack said, walking in. "Okay, I'm not sure how much food is left. I suppose it's just canned stuff, since anything that's been sitting on the counter is probably moldy- _Woah_, look at the shade of green the bread turned!"

Sandy and Aster exchanged exasperated looks before following him in. "Alright, should we take back all the food we can carry for the others?" Aster asked. Jack was already rifling through a cabinet, pulling cans down and setting them on the counter. "It'd be nice if we'd've thought about that sooner."

"I'll bet we can find some bags around here for that," Jack replied. "Here, if you two can keep unloading the cabinets, I'll do that." He left them to it, disappearing for a few minutes. His return came with brown paper bags from grocery stores. It only took them a few minutes to pack all of it up and prepare to leave again.

"Anything else we need to get?"

Jack shook his head but Sandy nodded. He reached over and grabbed Jack's sleeve, holding it up pointedly. "Clothes?" Jack guessed. His friend nodded again. "We're all going to smell bad if we don't change at some point," he agreed. "We're in the same clothes that we were fighting in."

"We probably smell bad already an' just can't smell it anymore," Aster muttered. "Good idea, but let's do it another time. We all gotta grab clothes from somewhere."

"While we're out, do you want to stop at your house?" Jack asked with an edge of hesitation in his voice. Like Jack's, Aster's home was empty. The reason for that, however, was because of the car crash that had killed both his parents and put his brother in a coma. He now carried around the scars of the fire the car had quickly been engulfed in. His brother was in the hospital, having not yet awoken.

"No," Aster said, shaking his head.

They left, not bothering to lock the door behind them. There was nothing left in the house to steal since it was on the market to be sold and everything inside had already been put in storage for Jack's father when he got out of prison or sent after his mother if they could find her. The walk through the forest was faster, since it became more obvious to them that Windy could get back from her late shift any time now. After the forest, they had to pass through a mile of neighborhood homes to get to her house. They stuck to passing between the backs of houses to avoid being seen in streetlamps. Aster and Sandy had both lived in this neighborhood once, just a little north-east of where they were now. It was strange how fast things had changed for them.

They remained silent, not wanting to talk and attract someone's attention. Occasionally, they gestured to each other, trying to navigate the fastest route back to Windy's house without words. The way they had first taken had definitely not been the quickest path. They were about a half mile away when Jack stopped while checking their surroundings, squinting between two houses to the road.

Aster and Sandy stopped, giving him curious looks. He set down his bag of cans and pointed at the road. They followed his gaze, looking at the figure walking out of view behind a house. Aster mouthed the word, "Pitch?" Jack nodded.

"I'm going after him," Jack whispered.

"_Why_?" Aster said, but Jack had already taken off. Aster groaned, dropped his bag down next to Jack's, and ran after him. Sandy followed a second later, silently wondering how messes like this happened so often to their group. "Jack!" Aster called as quietly as he could. "_Jack_, stop! You're being stupid! What are ya goin' ta do!"

He had almost caught up to Jack, being the fastest in the group, but Jack made a hairpin turn between two of the houses and caught Aster off guard. He skidded past before backtracking and picking up the trail again. Jack slowed and stood by the corner of the house, eyeing Pitch carefully. Sandy and Aster used the opportunity to catch up. Aster grabbed Jack's shoulder and forcefully jerked him back. He pushed him against the side of the house, gripping him tightly to stop him from running off.

"We're on the run from the police, Pitch has dozens 'a people backin' 'im up, an' yer not gonna beat 'im up. If he sees ya, he'll know we're hidin' somewhere around here an' it'll put Windy in danger." Jack put his hand against Aster's chest, trying to shove him away. Aster grabbed it and brushed it off. "You talk ta 'im, an' ya put all of us in danger. He'll kill ya if he can 'cause 'a the trouble ya caused a few days ago. Are ya really so stupid ya'd die just ta get the last word in?"

"Aster," Jack growled, "he's heading towards Jamie's house."

Aster's head snapped around, looking in the direction Pitch had just gone. He let Jack go, stepping back. "Are ya sure?"

"Positive. Jamie's house is the third house down on the road Pitch just turned onto."

Aster glanced at the other two, who stared back. With unspoken agreement, they took off again, running after Pitch. He didn't have much of a lead, since he wasn't running at all and didn't know he was being followed. They turned the corner after him and caught up within a minute.

"Where're you headed, Pitch?" Jack called out.

Pitch whipped around, glaring at the three of them. "Get arrested already and save me the trouble of having to get you out of my way permanently."

Jack smirked. "Oh, sounds like you're a bit touchy tonight. Something to do with you losing the fight a few nights ago? Yeah, that did end pretty badly for you guys."

"You really want a fight right now?" Pitch snapped.

Jack gave him a weird look and then glanced from Sandy to Aster then to Pitch on his own. "Can't you count?"

"I can come back with four times as many people in five minutes. So I'll ask again. Do you really want a fight right now?"

"I don't think either of us have the resources for one right now, actually," Jack replied. "Get away from Jamie's house. That's all I'm asking for."

Pitch glanced casually at the house behind him. "What makes you think I'm after the boy? What would that be for?"

"I don't know, and that alone has me concerned," Jack said, stepping forward. "You're right, I don't want a fight tonight. But you don't either. Leave him alone." He tried to avoid scanning the nearby area for anyone who worked for Pitch. There wasn't anyone he could see without looking closer, but he didn't doubt there was at least one other person out there who had been going to break in to the Bennett's house with him.

Pitch tapped the fingers of one hand against his thigh. He looked at the house on more time and shrugged. "Let's call a truce. Both sides need to recuperate. For one month, neither of us make an attack on each other of any kind. You don't try to get me arrested, I don't try to get you guys arrested. You don't attack my base, I don't attack you. And I suppose I won't attack anyone you guys particularly care about."

"Anyone who works for you has to abide by those terms too," Jack said firmly.

Pitch nodded. "Yeah. Same goes for your friends."

"Deal, then."

"See you in a month." Pitch raised his hand in farewell and turned away.

The two behind him remained silent for a moment.

"Ya couldn't push it out ta two months?"

"Shut up, Aster."

-.-.-.-.-

They were back at the house a few minutes later, depositing the grocery bags on the counter and floor. Jack fell into a chair, groaning as he looked at the bottom of his feet which had been torn up again from not wearing shoes.

"I keep tellin' ya to wear shoes."

"Oh, stuff it, Aster."

"It's not like yer goin' ta do anythin' useful if ya don't ever use a speck 'a common sense," Aster said.

Ana darted into the kitchen they were sitting in and grabbed both of them by the shoulders. They glanced up as she pulled them up from their chairs and began dragging them out of the room. She hushed them as they started to protest and tugged them up the stairs. Sandy, silent as always, gestured for them to hurry. Before Aster or Jack could ask what was going on, they heard the sound of a door opening downstairs and two voices talking as they entered. Aster and Jack needed no further prompting, moving quickly and quietly.

North was waiting for them in the guest room. There were blankets piled around the room, since they had all been sleeping in here for the last few days. He seemed impatient, and it looked like he'd been forced in here as well. Ana put a finger over her lips to keep him quiet and closed the door behind the four of them. Sandy pulled out a pad of paper from his pocket and scribbled down a note. He showed it to the rest of them.

_The doctor is here_

North frowned. He whispered quietly, "What?"

"Which one?" Aster peeked behind the window curtains, which were always closed. He caught sight of a car in the driveway that they had never seen before. "Dr. Moon?"

Ana nodded. "We saw him pull up a few minutes ago. Wind was stalling as best as she could."

"What's he doing here?" Jack muttered irritably. "None of us are injured."

They all looked at his feet.

"_Most_ all of us are uninjured."

"He's a doctor and he got particularly attached to you two after you showed up at the hospital twice in one month in horrible condition," Ana said, looking at Jack and Aster. "He probably just wants to know if Windy knows where you are so he can offer his help."

"With any luck," Aster muttered. "But why'd he come here?"

"Wind was mother-henning Jack while we were at the hospital," Ana said, "and since he left home, it's the obvious place he'd go."

"Shouldn't we, you know, leave the house?" Jack asked.

"What, is the doctor goin' ta come walkin' around or somethin'? Ya think Wind would let 'im? We're fine."

-.-.-.-

Wendy glanced into the kitchen, wincing to herself. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when she noticed Aster and Jack were gone. There were two cups of tea on the counter, though, so she moved past the room and continued down the hallway. "Sorry, I had some family over and they trashed the place a bit," she said without turning around. There were pillows that had been taken from beds and couches on the ground in random places from when Aster had been throwing them at Jack and there was a dent in the wall from when Jack had thrown a small empty trashcan at Aster in retribution and missed.

"Were you babysitting their kids?" he asked innocently enough.

She wished he'd just come out and say that he was positive she was harboring the five teenagers. "Yeah. So, you said you had information on the Pitch Black case?"

"I read in the paper that he was arrested for possession of controlled substances, but that was it," the doctor said. "I know for a fact Pitch caused someone harm the night you tried to arrest him. When I heard there'd been a fight between some of the kids, I went out to see if anyone was injured. There were bloody footprints on the frozen pond. There are only a few teenagers crazy or determined enough to run barefoot across ice and Pitch isn't one of them."

They stopped in the living room and faced each other. It didn't look like either was comfortable enough with the conversation to consider sitting down.

"Well, if you want to push for an assault charge, you're going to have to find someone to testify. Plus, you're going to have to find Black. He evaded us so far and we don't know where he ran off to."

"Officer, you know Black's going to get off the charge you've already got him. You can get him for fleeing arrest, but that won't hold him for as long as he deserves. You also know where you can find some kids who would testify against him." He watched at her without suspicion or pressure, just with honesty and openness.

She gave him a level look. "There is no one I know who I could put in front of a witness stand and have testify without them getting arrested or putting them in danger." It wasn't exactly a confession but she hoped it would make him leave the situation alone.

"If you did have someone who could testify, why wouldn't they be able to?"

"Well, if they had been in a fight against Black, they probably would have had to break some laws like theft to get information on him and assault for trying to catch him or anyone who worked for him. I might be waiting to see how bad it would be before even asking them to think about it." She shrugged. "It's all fair in war, isn't it? But not after war."

"If it's war between them and Pitch Black, that was just the prologue," Dr. Moon said grimly. She gave him a confused look. "I know they're trying to stop Black, but it's just going to get harder. Something's going on with the kids. He's…he's taking a particular interest in them for some reason. I don't know if he's trying to make them scared because that will give him power over them later, but… They're going to be in serious trouble very soon. And they're going to need guardians to protect them."

"The police can keep an eye out."

"The police are going to have other problems. Do you really think Pitch is going to _let_ you guys interfere? He'll make it as hard as possible. You need someone who can get things done immediately, not after you've gone through the legal route and he's already gone."

"Do you have someone who would be willing to do that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know some people who would be willing to."

Wendy stiffened, glaring at him. Angrily, she hissed, "You are not dragging them into it again. Did you see what happened to them last time? Are you even thinking about their well-being?"

"None of them were too badly hurt, and have you considered what will happen when they run off without telling you to fight him?"

"They wouldn't-"

"They will. He's the reason why they left home. They want to stop him. They can't turn back now and there had better be a good reason about why they left their homes behind them. It doesn't matter if you want to protect them or not. They're going to be out there again, fighting their hardest against him. He's going to respond in turn, and he's not going to have any qualms about taking them out as fast and violently as he can. You have to be ready for that."

"I am not letting them go out there again."

"They're teenagers! What makes you think they'll listen to you? Jack might, for a while. But he's the most adventurous of the group and he won't stay inside long. You can't keep them hidden in your house forever. That would be too cruel."

She shook her head. "No, it would be cruel to lead them on and make them think they can take him down."

"You don't think they can?"

"Jack's barely fifteen, damn it! Sandy's the oldest and he's not even seventeen! They are way too young!"

"The body is trapped by time, but the spirit is immortal and ageless. They have already seen too much and are already as old as some adults. The fact that they were willing to risk life and limb to stop him proves that."

"What would you have me do, _encourage _them? Never."

"Let them decide. I doubt they're not listening already."

"Well, _of course_ they're listening, but-"

Jack's voice broke through her statement from the vents above. "Uh, sorry to interrupt," he said, "but we kinda do have a say in this." Wendy glared at Dr. Moon, who shrugged. "Hey, how'd you know where we were?"

"Where else would you go?"

"Told you," Ana muttered, probably standing a few feet behind Jack.

A few seconds later, the five teenagers showed up, coming through the doorway with a small degree of hesitancy. Wendy shot a pointed glare at Jack but he ignored her for the time being. Aster and North took the lead on the matter, although all of them had their own speculations and queries.

"Why's Pitch after the kids?" Aster asked, folding his arms. "He wasn't before."

"As I said earlier, I'm not exactly sure. But if you take a look at papers from neighboring towns, there have already been several reports of attacks on children. No injuries yet, it just frightened them a little. It's a little too much of a coincidence, though, isn't it?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"If you want to protect the kids and make them not afraid of Pitch, they can't know who you are. If they know you, it will cause doubts that you can protect them. If you become legends… You don't exist. You're not liable to be arrested. You can be anything, do anything, and no one can criticize you because. It keeps you safe."

"You're saying it like we've already done it," Ana said.

He shrugged slightly. "I've started thinking about it ever since I heard Pitch had escaped."

"Okay, details aside, I'm up for it if it means I can get another round at stoppin' Pitch," Aster said bluntly. "We shoulda stopped 'im last time an' we didn't. We're got ta make up for it somehow."

"You're not even going to hear the rest of any idea he has?" Wendy said in a deadpan, knowing she'd already lost this battle.

"We can figure it out later," North said, grinning. "Aster is right. We have a wrong to right!"

"It may take longer than you think," Wendy cautioned. "While you're coming up with plans, he will be too. This can get bloody and could cause a revenge feud that will never end."

"Well, it's not like any of us have any children of our own we could endanger," Jack pointed out. "If we do this, we should probably move out of your house to keep you from being involved in any legal problems that could arise. That, and it'll be annoying if we have to worry about sneaking out of your house every time we have to leave."

"I'm sure we can find somewhere to stay. We could probably break into a building or something," Ana said, surprising everyone with her vote for criminal activity.

Aster nodded thoughtfully. "If we're not here, that should work."

"Officer Cook can help you avoid police efforts," the doctor said, "and you can let me know as soon as anyone is injured."

"I'm nominating North to be in charge," Jack said suddenly.

"What?" North said in alarm, looking at Jack.

The white headed teenager shrugged. "Sandy's too quiet, Aster's too loud, Ana's going to be busy doing other stuff I'll bet, and I don't like being in charge."

"But your plan was the reason we were able to win the fight last time!"

"So I'm a good planner. That doesn't mean I'm a good leader. Take today, for instance. In hindsight, going back to my house to steal a bunch of canned food so Wind doesn't have to use up her entire bank account at the grocery store wasn't such a good idea since it was obvious who took it."

"I'll nominate North for leader, too," Ana said. Sandy nodded.

Aster gave North a very non-sympathetic look. "Yer doin' it, mate."

"Okay," North said, not entirely sure how he had found himself in this position.

"Where should we stay?"

"We should leave as soon as possible. There're some storms coming. I'll bet we can use it to cover our tracks for good with the police. We can fake our deaths somehow and lay low for a while. The canned food needs to last us a while until we can find another source of food."

"What happens if we get injured and we can't contact the doctor?"

"Well, don't get injured!"

"Tomorrow night, let's send everyone out to get warm clothes from their homes. Bring anything you might think could be useful."

"We should start finding a good area to make the base."

"What'll we call it?"

"Something totally random."

"Why?"

" 'Cause."

"Santoff Claussen."

"_What_?"

"Hey, that sounds cool."

"What does that even mean?"

"Who cares?"

"We should probably focus on getting food and water so we don't starve to death…"

"Oh, yeah."

Wendy shot Dr. Moon a half-hearted glare, but had to admit to herself that the teenagers seemed more alive in the last few minutes than they had ever since she had taken them in a few days ago. Maybe he was right. Maybe they did belong out in the midst of the adventure, pitting everything they had to save the lives of kids they didn't even know.

-.-.-.-

a/n: This story is like the movie. You don't have to know the back story but it helps make sense of things. "Rivers" was the back story. If you're coming over from Rivers, you already know what I mean. If you're not and you don't want to read Rivers, it's not necessary (I would like you to, but you don't have to). You should be able to understand this story without me needing to explain too much in notes.

Just about everything has symbolism behind it. For instance, Aster's scars are very similar to the grey markings in Bunny's fur and Jack doesn't have good parental figures because he didn't have any parental figures in the movie. There will be a list posted soon regarding what correlates to what.

This is being co-written with **Zephyrus Genesis.**


	2. Chapter 1

**January 5**

"I hate this place," Jack muttered. Aster nodded in agreement. It was about five thirty in the afternoon, but it looked like they weren't going to be getting dinner any time soon because of the work load in their hands.

Ana glared momentarily at both of them. "Doesn't give you an excuse to slack off. Are you two even working?" She turned away from them, back to Windy and Dr. Moon. This was the first time the two adults had stopped by to visit the new residence of the teenagers, and they didn't seem very impressed by what they saw in the abandoned warehouse. "It's just temporary," she assured them. "We are _not_ staying here any longer than we have to, but North can't build a home in the snow right now because of the ice."

The building was dark seventeen hours of the day and looked even worse from the yellow light when it wasn't. There was still heating in the building for whatever reason, but it wasn't always enough to accommodate them when it was in the negatives. They had a supply of flashlights by their makeshift beds, which were essentially all the blankets that could have been spared from Dr. Moon's and Wind's house. The canned food had yet to run out, and they still had a little less than five bags left. Some of their meals had come from the two adults and others had come from random acts of theft, the latter being something the two adults didn't need to know about for a _long_ time.

Aster glanced at Jack, who shrugged, not sure if Ana wanted to know how far they had gotten or not. They went back to what they were doing, bending over the maps of the town and the schedules for school. The last few days had been spent figuring out where every child lived and what time they would get out from school, as well as what route they would take. Some of this had been relatively easy to figure out, like the time class was released, but the rest had been found out by hiding in bushes. It was going to take several weeks to map out every child's schedule and Aster and Sandy were already planning break-ins at the schools to find out which child was playing what sport and who rode what bus.

Sandy opened the door to the warehouse, hurriedly closed it behind him, and then ran over to where the others were standing and sitting. He and North had been out trying to figure out some of the paths students took to walk home. Luckily, they had caught a break and noticed that some kids who lived in the same neighborhood traveled in packs. He didn't look excited now, instead worried.

Ana didn't notice him, going right back to trying to calm the adults' fears. "Really, it just looks bad, we haven't had any serious problems yet-"

"Except for the mice," Jack muttered.

Ana kicked him lightly and Aster snickered. "What have you two gotten done?" she said impatiently. Sandy waved at her as he approached, attempting to call attention to himself. She was too focused on the other four around her to even register his motions.

"We have most of the high school kids mapped out, surprisingly, because a whole lot of them are driving themselves and others home. The rest travel in groups home or ride the bus. The main problem is that there are some sports that are interfering with our time maps," Jack said.

"We've got ta get inta the school," Aster said firmly. Sandy tugged on his sleeve but Aster shook his head, holding up a finger to tell him to wait a moment. "We can't do much if we're stuck here drawin' maps. It's ridiculous. Any change from the normal is throwin' us off, like when a student gets picked up from school when they shoulda been ridin' the bus."

Ana sighed and then turned back to Dr. Moon and Windy. "North and Sandy are out figuring out the paths of some more kids right now. We're trying to get the older kids first so we know immediately when their pattern changes."

"Why would that matter?" Windy asked. Sandy stomped his foot behind her and jumped, trying to get someone's attention. Her height blocked most of his gestures.

"It'll tell us as soon as Pitch gets a new follower," Jack explained. "It's better to figure out who he has on his pay role now instead of later. Unfortunately, this also means we have to mark what students are going to what college so we can make sure they're actually going out of the area and we don't have to worry about them anymore."

"Wait, what if they come back ta help Pitch ta pay off student loans?"

Ana and Jack exchanged exasperated expressions.

"And now we have to record that, too," Jack muttered.

Sandy waved his hands directly in Ana's face to get her attention. She jumped and then gestured for him to go ahead with whatever he had to say. He scribbled down a note on a pad of paper and handed it to her. She read it quickly and then frowned. "I didn't think it was snowing that badly," she said. "Are you sure?"

"It wasn't too bad this morning when you were outside," Jack said, "but when I went out around ten an hour or so after you were out there, it was the beginning of a huge storm."

"That's part of the reason why we stopped by," Dr. Moon said. "What's wrong?"

"Some kids got trapped under the elementary school playground in all the snow," Ana said. She handed the pad back. "Where's North."

Sandy underlined the part on his pad of paper that said _under the playground._

"With the kids?"

He nodded. _Blankets,_ he wrote.

Ana glanced at the others. "Let's go grab some shovels and see if we can't get them all out. We can dig a hole large enough to get some blankets through and then work on getting everyone out."

"Ana, there's a full-fledged _blizzard_ going on," Windy said. "You can't go out right now."

Aster began grabbing up all the blankets around him, shoving the maps aside. Jack bundled up the ones he hadn't gotten to yet and they shoved the two stacks together. "Grab some 'a the food," Aster said, pointing towards the grocery bags as he separated the two piles out into loads that could be more easily carried. "They probably haven't eaten in a while an' we don't know how long it'll take to get 'em out."

"Nobody listens to me," Windy sighed.

"Let's grab some shovels, but we're going to need something else, too," Jack said. "Once we get close to where the kids will be, we can't risk hitting one of them with a snow shovel."

"We'll have to get in there and dig with our hands when we reach that point," Ana said, taking the pile of blankets Aster handed to her. "Windy, were there a lot of people outside when you guys came in or do we not have to worry about that?"

She shook her head, resigned. "No, you'll be fine. I'll give you guys a ride there. We'll help."

"Not suggesting we call the police?" Dr. Moon asked lightly, noticing the change in how the officer was dealing with things.

"North's under there, so he'd get arrested, and we don't know why the kids didn't leave for home so it could be dangerous. The police won't be expecting that," she said mournfully, as if watching the funeral of her sanity. "I can't believe I'm helping you do this."

"It's for a good cause," Jack chirped lightly. "Okay, we're going to have to grab snow shovels from somewhere…"

"The doctor will pick them up," Windy said, not even bothering to ask if that was alright with him. "We better get you straight there if you want to get the kids out any time before next week." She turned and led the way outside. The rest followed, walking briskly with blankets bundled in their arms.

-.-.-.-

The first few feet of snow had come off relatively easy. They knew what the structure looked like and were trying to burrow their way between two steps and into the cavity at the center. By doing so, they lowered the risk of accidentally burying the kids in snow. The first half hour had been simple enough, most of it being done by hand. The snow hadn't settled down long enough to pack in tightly and could mostly be brushed off.

The second half hour was harder. They were bitterly cold by that point and the blizzard was gaining strength. The effort to uncover them immediately was postponed and a small hole was dug through until they pushed through to the other side. An arm stuck out from the other side and waved at them. In return, Aster gave North's hand a can of peaches. North pulled back, surprised, but then stuck his hand through again a moment later so Aster could give him the can opener. A few more cans were pushed through before work continued on a hole large enough to get the kids through. The blankets went next, each getting shoved through one after the other. After a few minutes of pondering it, Windy left temporarily to go grab chocolate for the kids. They might as well make it as enjoyable as they could for them.

With a small hole already made, they did their best to enlarge it as fast as they could. The hole collapsed several times and had to be unburied from the large amount that had fallen on it. Windy and Dr. Moon did the best they could to help, but there was only so much space for them to work with. After an hour, they all agreed to take shifts working to enlarge the hole and getting warm in Windy's car.

When the hole was a foot wide in diameter, North finally called out to them. "You will have to pull children out once they are in tunnel!"

The three on shift, all of the teenagers but Sandy, exchanged confused looks. "Say that again, mate, we didn't catch it," Aster said loudly, unsure if they had heard him correctly.

"Children are cold and moving slowly! You will have to help pull them out!"

"Oh great," Aster muttered.

"Ana, go get something like a rope from Windy," Jack said. Ana nodded and ran for the police cruiser without a second thought."I'll go in there and you can toss me whatever it is you find. We'll use it to pull the kids out."

"Hey, why-?"

"Because you're too tall, Ana's not strong enough, and Sandy won't be able to reach far enough to get the kids into the tunnel."

"Oh."

Ana came back a moment later with rope. Windy had taken to carrying various miscellaneous items around in preparation for the escapades the teenagers had started on. Jack took one end in his hand and climbed up the side of the playground set. He moved into the tunnel, careful so as not to cause anything to fall on him. It didn't collapse, thankfully, but he did knock a few clumps loose as he passed through. On the other end, it was even darker than outside and was disturbingly quiet. "Hello?" he said.

"Jack!" North rested a hand on his shoulder and helped him out. "What are you doing in here?"

Jack put the end of the rope in North's hand. "We're going to use this to pull the kids out. Should we get the smallest first?"

"Yes, I think so. Over here."

He led Jack over by the arm to one particular spot and crouched down in front of someone. "We are getting your sister out first because she is smallest," he said to someone, presumably the sibling of the youngest.

"Okay," the older brother replied. "Here," he said, helping them take his sister. She made a sound, a mix between a happy sigh and a sound meaning she wanted to go back to sleep. "She wiggles," he warned.

"Thanks," Jack replied, wrapping a rope around the youngest girl's arm and tying it in front. North and he then lifted her up into the tunnel. She lay down on her back and her coat acted as a sled, letting her get easily pulled out. It was only when her feet disappeared that Jack realized they were without rope again.

"Whoops."

North chuckled. "Go get rope back. I am too big."

Jack frowned in the dark. "That's right. We're going to have to get you out somehow, though… Here, boost me up, will you?" North obliged and Jack was back in the tunnel a few seconds later. Aster handed him the rope when he got to the end, and he awkwardly shuffled backwards into the cavity once more. He and North got the next child into the tunnel without trouble, as well as the third and fourth within the next ten minutes.

The last two children had remained silent throughout the whole affair, not speaking or moving. Their quiet had gone unnoticed in the hurry to get the others out. Now as North and Jack tried to wake them, it was a major concern. Neither child was responding, although both were breathing.

"It's the onset of hypothermia," Jack murmured. "Come on, let's get them out. The faster they get to Dr. Moon, the better. Which one seems worse?"

North pulled one child off the snowy wall and helped Jack tie the knot around him. "This one," he said. They raised the child into the tunnel and he was pulled away a second later. North crouched down by the last child and picked him up. "Here," he said. "Climb out with him. It will be faster than grabbing rope."

"You're going to come out behind me, right?"

"That is the plan," North replied, a smile in his voice. "I trust if I do not make it, someone will come back for me."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Duh." They lifted the last boy into the tunnel, and North helped Jack up after him.

He used one arm to hold him close and pull him along, while shuffling his knees forward across the ground to move forward. He used his free arm to stabilize himself as he moved. It didn't take long to get out, although it seemed as if it did. Hands were already reaching for them as they came out into the open air. Windy and Aster took the boy from him and he was whisked away to Dr. Moon's car. Windy's was already full.

"Okay, you kids got to scram," she said. "I called an ambulance and they'll be here any minute now."

"Go on," Jack said, waving the other three off. "North's almost out." None of the teenagers moved, however, until their Russian friend was out of the snow and on his feet. Only then did they turn tail and begin running back to the abandoned warehouse with sore arms and legs, cold limbs, tired heads, and little comfort waiting for them since they were leaving all their blankets behind with the children.

-.-.-.-

**January 6**

Windy stayed in the room of the two kids who had been the last to get out of the snow. The doctors had told them there would be no lasting damage, and they had not, in fact, succumbed to hypothermia. The real cause of their sleep had remained unknown, but any concerns had disappeared when the two brothers had begun throwing pillows at each other within minutes of waking up.

Dr. Moon had kept an eye on all the children, making sure all of them were just as alright as they seemed to be. They were all going to be held for a day to keep them under observation to be sure they were alright. Parents had been called and the adults were already fussing over their kids, hugging them, occasionally crying, and insistently asking what had happened to force the children under there long enough for the snow to bury them. The kids always fell silent when that question came up, glanced nervously at each other, and then would go back to whatever they had been talking about before the interruption.

Within a few hours, the children could no longer be contained. Claude, the twin who had been out last, was standing on his mattress and demanding to be let out while down the hall, the youngest child was running around her room laughing hysterically while her parents tried to get her back onto the hospital bed. After a few minutes of discussion, the majority of the kids were gathered in one hospital room to see if any answers could be coaxed out of them that way. The rest of the children were asleep, thankfully for their parents.

Sure enough, within two minutes, the kids were already sharing stories excitedly and conferring. Claude started it, exclaiming, "I saw him, I saw him!"

"He was bigger than I expected!" Jamie, the authority on all things supernatural, stated as if observing a surprising change in an experiment.

"I got carried by him!" Caleb exclaimed, whooping and punching the air triumphantly. He pointed at the rest, rubbing in that he had gotten special treatment even though it was just because he had fallen asleep.

"Which one?" Pippa asked.

"The Easter Bunny!"

"Yeah, well, I was carried by Santa Claus!"

"For two seconds! And it was just because he was moving you up into the tunnel!"

Jamie grinned. "It makes perfect sense that the two of them know each other, don't you think? They both have holidays revolving around kids. I wonder if they're others out there."

"I'll bet the Tooth Fairy's out there," Pippa said, leaving no room for debate."If the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are out there, she definitely is too. I waited all night for her to come one night, and she still got the tooth and put a quarter underneath without me noticing!"

Her parents remained silent, not mentioning that she had, in fact, fallen asleep.

"Honey," Jamie's mom said, "what are you guys talking about?"

He turned to her, practically bouncing with excitement. "We were under the playground and-and the snow was piling up – and it was getting _so_ high, Mom, you should've seen it! – and we thought we were going to be buried – and we kinda were, I suppose – and Santa came! He had on this big red coat. It was getting dark because the snow was blocking out the sun so we didn't see how long his beard was. Anyway, he started packing in the snow to stop it from falling in on us and we helped! I packed the most."

"No, I did!"

"I totally did!"

"I'm sure you all packed in a lot of snow," Jamie's mother said, trying to move the conversation along. The kids beamed at her.

"After that, it had totally piled up and I was sure we were going to be stuck down there for a long time. So Santa started telling us stories! It was so cool. And then a while later, the Easter Bunny tunneled through the snow and got us food!"

"Wasn't that nice of him…"

"And chocolate!"

The parents resisted the urge to exchange exasperated looks.

"And blankets too, but the chocolate was the best part. Oh, and Jack Frost – you know, the nippin-on-your-nose guy –, he helped the Easter Bunny burrow in!"

"Don't forget the battle!" Claude chimed in.

"_Battle?!_"

"Yeah! See, we got stuck under there 'cause the Boogeyman was out there! And he had-had…uh…someone with him!"

"Nightmares!" Pippa said.

"Yeah, that's probably what they were! Or-or-or Nightmare _Men_!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Ooohhh," the others said.

The parents looked utterly bewildered at this point.

"And so the Easter Bunny had to go fight them off before he came and got us."

"I'll bet the Tooth Fairy helped him!"

"The two of them fought off the Boogeyman's entire army! Cool!"

"Well, maybe they had help."

"Sandman?"

"Yeah, I'll bet the Sandman helped!"

Jamie's mother stepped in again. "I'll bet that's what happened," she said decisively. "But you know they're so very secretive. How were you lucky enough to see just who it was while you were in the dark and snow?"

The kids gave her a look, like it was sad she hadn't figured it out yet. "Well," Jamie said in an authoritative voice, "it wasn't the police or firemen. And random strangers wouldn't have stayed under there with us for so long. Santa had a big coat on and had a really deep voice, so it _must_ have been him. And the tunnel was at least four feet deep, so there must have been a expert tunnel-er to get through all that snow to us."

"And they gave us chocolate, so it was obviously the Easter Bunny."

"Yeah, and when Santa gave it to us, he asked if it was like an early Christmas."

Caleb and Claude "oooh"ed, like someone was about to get busted. "Hope the Easter Bunny didn't hear him say that."

"I wonder if they do this kind of thing all the time," Pippa said thoughtfully. She glanced at Jamie. "I mean, it was really nice of them, but I just wonder if they already knew we were in danger or something."

"I'll bet they did," he said, nodding his head. "I'll bet the Boogeyman has been after kids for a long time and the…the…uh, the legends are always making sure he doesn't attack anyone. What do you suppose they're called?"

"Protectors?"

"Uh, the Flying Four? 'Cause the Easter Bunny can't fly…"

"Yeah, but they'd want to include all of them."

"Are you sure the Sandman was there? He was awfully quiet."

"He probably doesn't speak much. I mean, he's busy weaving dreams and all. Hey, they could be the Dream Makers!"

"No, not all of them do that. Like, the Tooth Fairy doesn't, not really."

"What about… uh…"

"Guardians," the man in the corner offered quietly, light reflecting off his glasses like full moons.

"Yeah! I'll bet they're called Guardians!" Jamie said ecstatically.

Windy had been staring at the kids the entire time with a gaping mouth. Now she finally directed her attention to Dr. Moon, who had been standing by the door. He glanced back and smiled at her. After a few moments, she returned it. If current events were anything to go by, it seemed like they had found a cover for the teenagers to work under.

-.-.-.-

**January 9**

The children who had been rescued had not stopped talking about their adventure since they had gotten to the hospital. The teachers and parents who overheard these discussions let them have their fantasies, content to let them make something wonderful out of what had been so dire of a situation. Soon enough, their own classmates were in on the discussions, oohing and aahing about their tale, which became more elaborate with each passing day as the kids "figured out" more and more about what had actually happened.

A group of kids were not seated around them on the playground, listening as they retold the tale one more time. The younger kids were especially delighted to hear these tales. The ones in Jamie's age group were dismissing the tales, considering he was ten years old and supposedly a little too mature to believe in characters like that, but none of them took the time to bother him about. The rest of the kids who had been trapped had been younger, between the ages of six (Sophie) and nine (Pippa).

Jamie had been proclaimed official storyteller of the group. He could use words better than the rest and kids were more likely to sit still and listen to him than to others. His dramatic speech and hand gestures just added to the flow of the story and made people lean closer in to listen. Adults even enjoyed hearing the stories, if just because it was comical for them to see him getting so engaged in the tale.

"The Boogeyman was drawing ever closer to his prey-"

"That's us," Claude interrupted.

"-and they weren't sure what to do. The only place they could run to was the playground. They ran towards it for shelter, and the only reason they made it was because the snow and wind in front of them stopped long enough to let them through. The Boogeyman started following them, but he was stopped! The winds and snow picked up again!"

The children gasped in surprise.

"Jack Frost had come to the rescue!"

"Yay, Jack!"

"Jack Frost!"

"And behind him came Santa Claus, the one and only! Good ol' St. Nick ran straight towards the kids, battling his way through Nightmares left and right! Not a thing could stop him!"

The kids cheered and clapped their hands.

"Was he on his sleigh?"

"Did he have presents?"

Jamie smiled. "You'll have to wait and see. Now, he finally got to the kids with the Nightmares right on his tail. He fought long and hard, protecting the children if it meant his life!"

A child in the first row gave a surprised hiccup.

"Jack Frost saw what was going on and made it snow harder, putting a barrier between the children and his friend and the Nightmares." The children paused, trying to imagine that. Jamie thought for a moment. "Well, I don't mean they were _all _separated. Santa and the kids were under the playground and the barrier was between that and the Nightmares."

"Oh."

Jamie pushed on, ignoring the momentary lull. "Jack Frost wasn't left battling the Nightmares on his own, oh no. Who should arrive but the Tooth Fairy, Queen of the Fairy armies herself!"

"Fairies!"

"Yes!"

"And together they began pushing back the forces of the Boogeyman, the forces of fear and darkness. But it wasn't time for rejoicing yet, no, not yet. The children were scared and he fed off that, bringing more Nightmares into the world to fight on his side. All the way across the world in China, meanwhile, the Sandman heard the battle cries of his comrades. He immediately rushed to their aid and struck from behind, attacking the Boogeyman's army!"

"Sandman!"

"Yes, the Sandman, the bringer of good dreams! And this _was_ a good dream for our heroes! As they fought the forces of evil, the Easter Bunny was able to tunnel through the snow Jack Frost had made and give the children special chocolate. It let them remember there was hope for a happy ending. But the hole the Easter Bunny had made was too small. It would only let a small bunny through. So Santa reached into his sack and pulled out a present, one for each child! They took the presents and opened them up. Each one contained a potion that would make them small enough to get through the tunnel. And within two minutes, all the children were out of the tunnel and back outside!

"They weren't safe yet. The forces of good and evil were still battling each other. So Santa called his reindeer, and they all hopped in! The children were dropped off at their homes, and after making sure each was fast asleep, Santa went back to the fight. With the hope of the children on their side, the battle was won and the Boogeyman was defeated for one more day."

The children cheered, hugging each other and Jamie. "Is the Boogeyman going to be back?"one asked.

Jamie shrugged. "He probably will be. But as long as we have the Guardians, it'll all be okay. Besides, we know that Santa is usually nearby. We found some hoof prints from his reindeer out there yesterday."

"Really?!"

"Yep! That's where he and his reindeer train! Of course, there are some other places around the world where he trains, but Burgess is one of those places!"

"That's so cool!"

-.-.-.-

Windy looked inside the warehouse curiously with a small smile on her face. Most of the "Guardians" were asleep, wrapped up in the blankets that had been returned to them after their use had been served. Sandy was awake, having been keeping watch in case someone came by the warehouse. He waved tiredly at Windy as she stepped in, closing the door softly behind her. Dr. Moon was already inside, sitting by Sandy.

After the events four days ago, they had begun piecing together what had actually happened. It seemed like Pitch had been trying to get to one of the children or scare all of them. He had chased them under the playground that afternoon, riding a horse and obscuring himself in a dark cloak. The effort to scare them had evidently worked, as they had remained under there for some time until North had climbed in after them. Whatever Pitch had been trying to do exactly was yet to be known.

It had backfired, no matter what the intent had been. He and his horse had left prints out in the forest, leading children to believe that's where the reindeer were training. The Guardians legend had grown to a ridiculous proportion within a matter of days because of the stories that the kids had been telling. The teenagers had protested the idea immediately of using _that_ as a cover, but it had quickly become obvious that there was going to be no way around it. As of right now, they were just letting the idea sit and see what happened before they tried to elaborate on it. Sandy seemed to have a few ideas but he wasn't saying anything.

Windy gestured to Dr. Moon. He stood up and walked over, turning his back to the Guardians. Windy did the same, and spoke in a low voice to avoid letting any of them hear her. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours. I felt bad that I hadn't been able to see them all, what with the kids being in the hospital and then the five of them running around trying to figure out what exactly happened. Did you know they went to your house afterwards because they didn't have any way to keep warm?"

Windy winced, glancing over her shoulder. Sandy was politely looking the opposite way, giving their conversation privacy. "No, but I can believe it. I thought some food was missing." She looked at the doctor. "The police are curious but not investigating. They're safe this time. I don't know how long they can stay here, though. Once things start picking up, they have to have somewhere secluded they can retreat to."

"There's nothing we can do until winter's over," Dr. Moon said with a sigh.

She nodded, not happy about it. "I know, but… Hopefully, things won't get too bad. How are they holding up?"

"They aren't suffering from any after effects of the cold."

"No, I mean…mentally. Aster's parents were just killed in a car crash and his brother's in a coma. Jack's family's messed up. I don't even know the rest of the story for _any_ of them. They don't trust me enough."

"It's not that, they just…don't want to talk about it. Aster doesn't want to stop and think about what happened. He's got scars from the crash that will never heal, but many of them are mental, too. Jack was there for him throughout his healing and stayed with him at the hospital when they were waiting for Lachlan to wake up."

"Lachlan's his brother?"

"Yes. Because of that, Aster was there for Jack when Jack's father…" He trailed off, going quiet. Windy suppressed a flinch. She already knew Jack's father had been a violent drunk. "And then his mother abandoned the family and Emma was sent to live with their aunt and uncle in Georgia. Anyway, that's why Aster and Jack act so friendly towards each other even if they argue just as much. They both see each other as family because they don't have any biological ones left."

"I know that much, at least. They were going to take Jack away from Burgess, but he was such a troublemaker his distant relatives didn't want to deal with him. Aster was on my case the entire time, trying to get me to find a way to let him stay here."

"North's an orphan, you know that. His adopted parents were loving, but he knew the pain his friends were going through and gave up his own family to help them. Sandy's parents have been helping Pitch deal drugs, and Sandy didn't want to get involved in that. Ana's biological mother is in prison and her father's location is unknown. Her aunt and uncle took her in but lied, saying they were her real parents."

Windy sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. "You think they'll be alright? I mean, it was really brave when they tried to stop Pitch by exposing everything illegal they'd done, but it was brash and stupid. They broke multiple laws in the process and are now fugitives. Do you think they did that because it was the right thing or because they wanted to vent out their frustrations?"

Dr. Moon remained quiet for a few moments. "I don't know. But I think they'll try to do the right thing from now on. It's going to be hard if it works. If they can become the family they never had before… I think they can make it work."

Windy smiled. "What does that make us? Surrogate parents?"

"No, you're more like the favorite older cousin who is always harassing the younger ones for being stupid."

"Well, then you're the old grandfather."

"Thank you. The grandfathers are usually the wisest."

"And are going senile and farting in the night."

"Which is when the cousin is sneaking out and getting drunk."

She rolled her eyes, grinning. "Okay, let's go see what they're working on now. They'll forgive us for waking them up in the middle of the night, I think. And if not, well, that's their problem."

He gestured for her to lead the way. She walked over to where the ring of blankets marked where they slept. Sandy saw her approaching and shook Ana awake. The girl stirred as Windy began waking North and Aster. Jack sat up of his own accord, hearing the rest of his friends begin to stir.

"Hey, what's going on?" he murmured wearily.

"We just wanted to check up on you since we haven't seen you recently," Windy said.

Aster groaned, putting his pillow over his face. "Ya saw us four days ago an' it's two in the mornin'! Go ta sleep!"

"Just get up and listen. What have you guys been doing recently?"

"Sandy and I broke into the school two days ago to get information on routes the kids take home. We combined that with what we already know and we've gotten a lot worked out because of that," Jack said, fighting back a yawn. "North and Aster were looking for Pitch, and while they didn't find him, they've learned he's using a horse to get around. A more stinky method of getting around than using a car, but whatever works for him, I s'pose."

"Do we need to start making tallies of how many laws you break?"

"Why?"

Aster brushed the matter aside. "We started followin' the smaller groups 'a kids who walk home every day from school to make sure Pitch doesn't go after 'em again. Sandy an' Ana ran across two 'a Pitch's guys one time, but we won that fight. Don't know what they were doin', but it didn't look good."

"We met your friend, Ombric, in New York last month," North said, nodding at Dr. Moon. "He said he will come by to see about sponsoring us."

"Ombric?" Windy asked.

"He runs a store called Nightlight," Jack explained. "Messenger pigeons. We're going to use them to send messages across town. We can't use phones because those can be tracked, email would require a laptop so that's too bulky, and radios could be grabbed off us by Pitch and he could find the frequency."

"So you thought…messenger pigeons."

Jack gave her a look. "We're still young and stupid. Let us get through all the bad ideas now, alright? Besides, it could be fun."

Windy rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"He should be stopping by within a week or two," North said. "We can work out details then."

"What are we going to do about food?" Ana asked. "These canned foods won't last forever."

"An' I'm not goin' ta be able ta eat them forever," Aster muttered, nudging Jack playfully. His friend snickered and nodded in agreement. Windy refused to react to that, instantly reminded of what Dr. Moon had just said a few minutes ago.

"We can both supply food," Windy said, gesturing to herself and Dr. Moon. All five kids looked uncertain about that. "Hey, seriously! We're not going to suddenly back out on you guys!"

"No, it's just…" Ana said. "There are five of us, Aster and North eat like they're starving to death, and if someone notices how much food you're buying, they are going to get suspicious. I suppose that'll work short-term, but we need a long-term solution, too."

Windy shook her head and shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank there. We'll figure it out later."

"Later, when it's not time for me ta be sleepin'."

"Sorry," Ana said, "but I've got to agree with Aster on this one."

Windy laughed and stood up. "Alright, we'll leave you guys alone. Sleep well, okay?"

"Sure, Sandy's watching over us!"

"He is Sandman now, is he not?" North pointed out with a grin. Sandy rolled his eyes and made a fist, pointing down at the ground to tell him to go back to sleep.

"Sandman says hit the sack before he hits it for ya," Aster said. Sandy gave him a look, clearly sending the same message his way, too. Aster held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, message received." He flopped back down onto the ground and tugged a blanket back over himself. "Windy, Moon, don't feel required ta drop in every day ta check on us. We're fine."

The doctor waved it aside. "Call me Manfred."

"Manfred? Nah, we're callin' ya Manny. Manfred sounds like yer a Brit in line ta be King 'a England or somethin'." Aster's voice was muffled through the blanket over his head, but he made no move to push it aside.

"Be careful," Windy said firmly, eyeing each of them, before standing up and walking off. "I will come for you if you're not."

"Threats to keep us safe. Anyone else think that's just a little weird?"

Windy brushed it off. Manny left a moment later, and the door closed securely behind him. A few moments of silence passed before all the blankets were thrown off and the teenagers leaned in towards each other to continue what they had been doing before they had been interrupted.

"Okay, what were ya sayin'?" Aster asked, looking at North.

"Area by James Creek is perfect for home we could build," he said. "Foundation sturdy, high enough that it will not flood. We will need supplies to build a home and workshop, though."

"How large are ya thinkin'?"

North shrugged. "Two rooms. One to sleep and eat in, other to be used as workshop. It will depend on how large you need. How much space do you think?" he asked all of them. Sandy gestured to the amount of area they took up and then brought his hands close together. "Smaller than this?" North guessed. Sandy nodded.

"A tight fit, but I think that would work," Ana said. "I don't think we'll always be asleep at the same time as each other. It won't be too bad. Do you think we're going to need a stove and microwave or anything else?"

"Yeah, Ana, we're not barbarians using fires!" Jack said.

"Where are we going to get the supplies to build this from?" Ana asked.

"Well, petty theft would be one place ta start."

"Aster!"

"What?"

"Let's find some of the simpler stuff first," Jack suggested. "We've got the routes planned out for the messenger pigeons, right?"

"Yeah, but I've got a bad feelin' about those bloody birds," Aster said. "They're going to be hard ta control an' keep quiet."

"Ombric can help us with that," Ana said. "Okay, I'll admit, it _is_ nicer to plan this stuff without having those two leaning over our shoulders."

"It is, isn't it?"

"Hey, back to the discussion, please!"

-.-.-.-

a/n: **Zephyrus Genesis** has a talent for art and has kindly drawn several scenes from Rivers on her account. There hasn't been time to draw any from Crosscurrent, but I'll let you know if she puts more up. The account on DeviantArt is also under the name **Zephyrus Genesis**. Go check it out!

Anyone think it seems a little interesting that Dr. Moon knows so much about the Guardians when they obviously wouldn't want to talk about their past lives? Interesting, hm?

If you're wondering why Jamie didn't recognize anyone (if you've read Rivers), it's because Jamie never met anyone but Aster.

LIST OF SYMBOLISM (Jack) (sorry, readers from Rivers, but you've already heard this): Hair and drowning – The shock of nearly drowning turned his hair white (this actually can happen, but don't try it at home).

Intelligence – Jack comes up with randomly brilliant plans in this story effortlessly because his frost was so intricate and effortless in the story, but he can't randomly ice things over as a human.

Flying – Uses roofs to get around.

No family he remembers – Father had horrible parenting skills, mother never paid him any attention, Emma went to Georgia.


	3. Chapter 2

**January 11**

The dead bolt was easy enough to unlock. The dog that ran up behind him as he opened the door was even easier to get around, a simple treat doing the job. Pitch closed the door quietly, putting a barrier between him and the canine. He had watched the children put in the code to the backdoor and typed it into the security alarm on the wall before it went off. It wouldn't do for anyone to know he had ever been here at all. Being sure to tread carefully, he moved quickly but silently across the kitchen floor to the stairs. Those were more likely to creak than the floor had been, but he walked close to the wall instead of down the center.

There was a boy of eight and a girl of nine who lived here. They had an older sibling who was a freshman in college. That sibling, Nathaniel Hassen, had worked for Pitch years ago. Nathaniel had been one of the first Pitch had ever recruited, and had developed the method for avoiding the police that Pitch used so often now. Jack had worked out an even better method, though, and Pitch needed Nathaniel to tell him how Jack was doing it. He had an opposition, and that wasn't a development that would be tolerated.

Nathaniel was smart. He knew working with Pitch would drag him down and that he would never leave Burgess if he kept up that lifestyle. Nothing would bring him back here unless a threat against his siblings was made. That was something Pitch was not above doing. The parents were oblivious to everything, as usual, but working out the reason about why Nathaniel had to return home was not Pitch's problem.

There were pictures on the wall of the family, all three children and both parents usually smiling widely. On occasion, they were too busy with whatever they were doing to face the camera but the general emotion was still conveyed. Pitch ignored it, finding such senseless display of affection annoying. His family rarely showed affection to each other, preferring to show support for each other by doing something useful. Almost anything he did was done alone, but his parents never knew what he was up to or bothered to help. His two cousins were the exceptions of the general mood. The siblings rarely dealt with the rest of the family at all but were rather affectionate toward each other. It was a shame, considering the two were very bright individuals. Even worse was the younger's awful choice in friends.

He found the bedroom of the children at the end of the hall. The door opened soundlessly and Pitch slipped in. He knew he was going to have to find another way to get into houses after this, since it was pure luck this was a new house and hadn't begun to creak and moan under anyone's weight. The room was colorfully decorated and was large enough to accommodate both children. There weren't many toys in the room, so he guessed there was another part of the house that the children used as a play room.

His attempt to scare a group of children before had backfired horribly, teaching him that he had to do this in a controlled environment. There was nothing that could be made into a fairytale about a scare in the middle of the night. There were no saviors to come for children when it was just their imagination that caused the terrors. Even the storytelling of Jamie Bennett would not be able to turn this around. Maybe he should stop by and see that child next…

It didn't take him very long to get set up. He had been planning these waking nightmares for some time now. It was about time he was finally able to put it into action. The only thing left to do was wake the children and let it all begin.

-.-.-.-

**January 15**

Ana hated Thursdays and Fridays now. It was her turn to track the children and find out which routes they took home. There weren't many more to work out, thanks to the burglary performed a few days ago, but there was still enough left that it was necessary to make two of them keep watch at a time. Sandy was on shift with her today, like he was every Thursday.

They had just returned from watching the first wave of kids go home. There was now a half hour lull before two of the sports teams ended practice and those children started the commute home. It was boring and uneventful to wait outside the school as inconspicuously as possible, but there were the rare occasions where a child went home early for whatever reason. Just yesterday, Aster had caught one of Pitch's guys trying to attack such a child.

Sandy elbowed her and pointed to the playground at the side of the elementary school. Jamie Bennett was sitting on one of the swings, rocking back and forth with his head down. He looked upset about something. She shrugged and nodded. They went around the back of the high school and crossed the street at a distance far enough from the playground that Jamie wouldn't take notice of them even if he turned around. It was harder to sneak up onto the playground without him looking, but it was made easier by him not paying any attention. They sat down on a level above the swing and behind a barrier, so Jamie wouldn't see them if he looked up.

A few minutes passed while nothing happened. Jamie got up and walked underneath the plastic structure, standing in the area where he had been buried in the snow with his friends. He sighed before starting to speak.

"Hey, I feel kinda crazy here… Look, I know I'm not telling the kids _exactly_ what happened, but they need something to make them happy," he said. Ana and Sandy exchanged smiles. "Some of them are getting scared about stuff. I don't know exactly what's going on, but it seems like something's beginning to happen. It's bad. But you guys made it go away. …Are you even there?"

Sandy shrugged, not sure what they should do. Ana paused before grabbing a handful of snow and rolling it into a ball. Before Sandy could stop her, she hurled it at the side of the elementary school. Jamie jumped as he saw it hit the wall. Sandy face-palmed.

"Oh, I guess you are…" Jamie muttered. "Uh, well, I figure you can't read minds and you can't be _everywhere_ at once, so I guess you probably don't know what's been happening. One of Monty's friends, Carl Hassen, has started suffering from these nightmares. He and his sister both. They're seeing stuff like it's happening in their room, but there's no way it's actually happening. Stuff like floating and glowing stuffed animals or dark shadows moving around the room. They're terrified. Pippa said something similar happened to her yesterday."

Sandy frowned, looking very inclined to climb down and talk to Jamie. Ana gripped his arm, stopping him from doing so. She listened intently as Jamie continued.

"I don't know exactly what you do, but you protected us last time. Is this the Boogeyman again? Can you stop him?"

Ana glanced up at Sandy. The two nodded in determination. Jamie sighed below, grabbed his backpack, and left. He had a glow of hope in his heart, but with uncertainty right beside it.

-.-.-.-

They told Jamie's story to the other three as soon as they got back from their shift. The others listened intently, considering how to deal with the problem before they were even done. The lack of information about what exactly Pitch had been doing and why was troublesome but it was something they could work around.

"Let's stake out both houses tonight," Jack suggested. "We'll stop him before he even gets inside."

"Yeah," Aster said. "No problem, we'll just tell their parents some fugitive has been breakin' inta their house ta scare their kids an' that we'll protect 'em. They'll believe that, won't they?"

"Sarcasm not appreciated."

"We can sit outside their house and keep an eye out," Ana said.

"I don't disagree, but how're we goin' ta protect every child in town? He'll go after the others if we protect those two houses." Aster obviously cared about the kids in town, but he was pushing for the skeptical argument to protect as many as he could. "We could put more in danger than we'd protect."

"Aster, we _know_ he's going after those two. We can't just sit by!" Jack said.

"We can try and catch him," Ana pointed out.

"That's not happenin', but it's worth a shot. If he takes off, we need ta follow 'im ta make sure he doesn't go after another house." Aster gestured at their pile of coats. "Better take warm clothes an' food. It's goin' ta be a long night."

"Aster, Ana, Sandy, go watch the Hassen house. Jack and I will watch Pippa's," North said. "We have a few hours until we should go out. We should get sleep. It will be a long night."

"First, let me put this idea out there before I forget. Jamie was right. We're not all-knowing, especially because we're not actually immortal legends. We need a way to know when children are in danger. There has to be some way for us to keep track of everyone. Maybe a system of messengers or something."

"And who are these so-called messengers ya speak of?"

Ana gave Aster a look. "I said I just wanted to put the idea out there. I'm not sure exactly how it would work, I just think we need something like that. We need someone to get us information."

"Yeah, we're working blind until we can get someone to help us. There're only five of us." Jack paused. "Well, seven, but two of us have jobs and Manny's going to be pretty busy at the hospital."

North waved it off. "We will think about it another time. For now, sleep."

-.-.-.-

**January 16. 1:13 AM**

Pippa opened her eyes when something hit her window late that night. She waited, listening for a repeat of the sound and dreading it at the same time. Something hit the window again. It sounded like a bird was repeatedly running into it. She put her pillow over her head, trying to block out the sound. She was right. Whatever was haunting the Hassen's home was now haunting her. The waking nightmares had begun.

Then something _fell off_ the roof.

She took the pillow off her head and turned around, putting her fears aside to look out the window in confusion. A shadow darted past, but it wasn't ominous like the others had been. This one was just a shadow. It didn't have any menace behind it. She looked around the room quickly. There were no odd creaks or groans like someone was walking right past her. None of the animals around the room were floating or moving closer like they had before. She didn't see a single sign that this was like the nightmares from the night before. If this wasn't that, then was going on?

Something knocked against the side of the house. She jumped but climbed out of bed, edging her way closer to the window. Another shape fell off the roof abruptly and she heard it hit the bushes below. It was dark out and hard to see, but she could just catch a glimpse of two figures standing on the roof. The faint light from the moon was enough to tell that they were there, although it was hard to make out anything apart from their figures. The one on the right was taller and more muscular while the one on the left had a slim build. The latter had something in his hand, like a staff, that he held onto like it was a weapon. Both had their backs to her, watching the ground below. She reached out to tap the window, but a sudden movement from one of them caught her off guard and she jumped back in surprise.

The smaller one whirled around and lunged forward, reaching out with the staff. He grabbed the edge of the roof with it and yanked himself up. A bare foot hit her window for a split second to help push himself over before it disappeared, going over the roof with the rest of him. She could hear a light padding of footsteps above her head as he moved around. His steps were too light and all over the place for him to be doing anything but preparing for someone else to make the first move in a fight. She had watched enough movies to know that. The second shadow remained where it was outside her window, but was shifting impatiently. If she had to guess, he wanted to get involved in the fight too. Wait, did that mean that there was someone _else_ on her roof? Who? And why was someone out there at this time of night?

Something heavy, like a body, hit the roof with a loud sound. Pippa jumped in surprise, looking up at the ceiling in worry. There was a series of smaller thumps, like that of a fistfight up above. She hoped it wasn't between the person who had fallen and someone else. That didn't seem fair to her, even if the person who had fallen had it coming. Whatever the case, the shadow outside her window made a move for the higher roof, grabbing the edge and hauling himself up. He had no trouble at all doing it, climbing up in less than half the time it had taken the first person. She could hear him join the fight a second later, and the struggle moved a few feet away from where the first person had fallen. Well, two against one wasn't exactly fair either, but she was a bit happier with that outcome.

A new shadow came into view by her window while she was watching the ceiling, tracking the thumps and thuds with her eyes as she heard them. It paused outside and started opening the window. Pippa heard it begin to slide up and glanced over in time to make eye contact with the intruder. She had long black hair, that was mane-like in appearance because of how untamed it was, tied and pulled over one shoulder. Her dark clothes, including a black jacket and sweatpants, helped her blend in with the moonless night, but when she was this close, it was hard not to see her because of her stiff appearance. Pippa easily believed that she'd had no trouble getting up here, because even in the dark, she could tell the teenager was strong and sturdy. She could also easily believe that this girl was not here for benevolent reasons.

She ran forward, grabbing the window and trying to pull it back down. The teenager on the other side fought her for it, pushing it back up slowly against Pippa's will. It was hardly a contest of strength. Pippa put her entire weight into her effort, struggling to even slow down the teenager from just shoving it open quickly. This seemed to be more of an annoyance for the teenager than anything else. She certainly looked irritated, but maybe that was just her normal expression. They could both hear the sounds of a fight coming from the other roof, loud and clear as the three exchanged blows. It made Pippa wonder why two people had come here in the first place, and even more why two people had come to fight them, but there wasn't enough time for her to stop and really think about it. The window was inches from being open far enough for the teenager to climb in now.

The bulkier of the two boys who she had seen outside her window before dropped down beside the girl. She barely had time to turn and look at him before he literally grabbed her and tossed her away with seemingly little effort. Pippa shut the window quickly and locked it. He folded his arms and watched as the other teenager rolled over the side of the roof and dropped out of view. He continued staring at that spot with a hard gaze, leading Pippa to assume she was still there. After a moment, an arm came into view as she tried to climb back up. The male walked forward and, with little sympathy, took both of her arms and forced her to release her grip from the roof. She grabbed onto him, not wanting to drop. Instead, he let her go and shook her off. She fell out of view. Pippa winced although she knew the teenager had only landed on her mother's bushes and wouldn't be too badly hurt.

The shadow stepped back and turned, gaze flickering between the window and the roof above. He was clearly deciding whether to stay here at his post or go help his friend with the fight. Pippa took pity on him although she had no clue what was going on. She could understand the loyalty of a friend. She rechecked that the window was locked and then grabbed her rock collection she'd had to make for school last year. The heaviest rocks were put on top of the part of the window that opened, and it added about ten extra pounds to open it by the time she was done. She took her flashlight and turned it on to make sure it worked. She glanced out the window and smiled, giving the teenager a thumbs up. Although it was dark, she could have sworn he cracked a grin as he returned the gesture. He ran forward and hauled himself up onto the other roof once again. She remained where she was, listening to the fight but watching to make sure that no one came up by her window again.

Less than a minute later, she heard one of the three footsteps run off in the opposite direction from her window. The other two paused, waiting to make sure he really was gone. Then the taller one dropped down beside her window, making sure no one had tried to enter again. He glanced around quickly and then went back up onto the higher roof. She listened carefully but didn't hear either leave. No one came back either. Every once in a while she could hear someone shuffling around like they were trying to get comfortable. The moon came out from behind the clouds, making it much easier to see everything around her. There wasn't anyone in sight. Half an hour passed, and neither of the two guards above her head had left. With a shrug, she turned and left the room.

She returned a few minutes later with two sandwiches and two glasses of water. They were bound to be hungry and thirsty after a fight, right? She set them down so she could remove the rocks from her window and open it up. One of the two teenagers stirred at the sound. She carefully put the two sandwiches on the plates outside, followed by the glasses of water. Now both of the teenagers were stirring, curious about what was going on. She glanced up in time to see a white head dart out of view. She blinked in surprise before pulling back and closing the window. They probably didn't want her to know who they were. A few seconds later, the smaller one dropped down and started handing up some of the sustenance to his friend. His hood was pulled up over his head, but she could just make out a flash of white hair.

She watched him for a few seconds before he paid her any heed. He smiled and waved. She blinked in surprise before laughing and returning the wave. He pointed to the bed and put his hands together by the side of his head, miming sleep. She glanced at the piece of furniture but when she looked back to try and tell him she wasn't sure she could after all this excitement, he was gone. With a sigh, she replaced the rocks on her window sill and then climbed into bed. She could at least give it a try. With those two outside, she doubted anything was going to get into her room tonight.

-.-.-.-

They all finally made it home at around five in the morning, when it was early enough for parents to start leaving for work and too late for Pitch to cause any real harm. The night had been exhausting, and the worst part was that they were probably going to have to do it again the next night. Jack and North made it back first, being the closest to the warehouse. They would have started making up breakfast for everyone else, except they were still living off canned food and there was no real point.

"It feels colder in here," Jack commented.

North nodded, frowning. "Maybe heating was cut?"

"Yeah, it's expensive to heat a building and pointless when you're not using it." He frowned, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself. "I guess that's going to be a problem. Let's mention it to Wind and Manny. One of them's bound to deliver a small heater if we mention it. Can't have us freezing our butts off."

The door opened and the rest of their group came in. They didn't arrive with smiling faces and laughs although they had been just as victorious as the other two. Jack frowned, noticing that Aster was limping and swearing like a sailor. In fact, it was rather hard _not_ to notice. "Hey, what happened to you guys?" he called out after Sandy had closed the door.

"Sandy and I had to run all over the neighborhood three times and Aster got stabbed," Ana said, the closest they had ever heard her to sounding grumpy. "How'd you guys do?"

"Pippa saw us. She gave us food."

"Oh, stuff it," Aster snapped.

"Onyx and Pitch were there. North dropped her off a roof and we whupped Pitch's butt, so they've had an ego pounding tonight from us. Pippa learned to lock her window, so unless they break through one of the doors, they'll have a more difficult time giving her trouble now. She's smart. She'll figure out that she just needs to make sure the doors are locked if she has any more trouble. I think we just need to watch her house for a few more nights to be sure she'll be fine." Jack watched as they sat down, Aster more gingerly than the other two. "Okay, so I'm assuming whoever was with you got sick and tired of Aster's mouth and decided to shut him up? He's not bleeding all over the place so I'm assuming it wasn't too- _HOLY SHIT!_"

Ana had made Aster lay down on his stomach so she could deal with the injury. He had several inches of knife sticking out of his back but the most worrying part was that there was a fair amount still stuck in the back of his shoulder. While there was a decent amount of blood, it seemed like the knife was blocking most of it from getting out. He couldn't have received the wound more than an hour ago.

"We got ambushed just as we were about to leave," Ana explained. "Aster was beating up too many people in their ambush and one of them pulled that on him. Looks like a kitchen knife."

"Uh, I don't think kitchen knives look like that."

North nodded in his head, contradicting Jack. "Some do. Think of kind you would use to cut roast."

"Thanks for that analogy," Aster muttered. "Can someone, y'know, get that thing outta me?"

Ana nodded although he couldn't see her. "Okay, we're going to have to cut your shirt off."

"Great, now I'm down to three shirts."

"Stop complaining." With help from a pair of scissors, the shirt came off easily and quickly enough. "Alright, now we're going to have to pull that out. How deep do you think it is?"

"Do I look like a doctor ta ya?"

"Well, the thing's stuck in your back, so it's a safe bet you can feel how far in it is," Jack pointed out, flopping down on the ground facing Aster. His friend leveled a glare at him. Jack folded his hands under his chin and grinned back. "Oh, this is going to suck for you. This means you're going to be out of commission for a while if you want that to heal right."

"Like I hadn't already figured that out for myself. It's probably two or three inches in." Aster said the last part towards Ana. She nodded, frowning and debating on how best to get it out. "Don't try an' just yank it out. If North's right – I can't see it so I can't say for sure – that'll cut open a bunch 'a tissue if ya do."

"Uh, how else would we get it out?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "Show me this laser neutralizer you have tucked in your back pocket to shrink the knife with."

"Sorry, Aster, but Jack's right. We're going to have to just pull it out."

Aster groaned. "Great. Just do it now."

"We were going to wait for infection to set in, but if you insist…" Jack said with a smirk.

"I would hit ya if I could move right now."

Ana settled down beside Aster and gripped the knife with both hands. He winced slightly, feeling the metal shift. Ana pulled up gently, testing how far in it was and how stuck. He grimaced further but didn't complain. The knife was rather stuck, as Ana tried pulling again and it hardly moved. "Okay, this is going to hurt," she said. "A lot." She then stood up and yanked on it as hard as she could. Aster cringed, and the tenseness of his muscles only increased the pain. A flash of worry crossed Jack's face and he reached out to take Aster's hand. Aster gripped it tightly in return, face planted in the ground as he fought against making a sound.

North gently pushed Ana aside and took his place beside Aster. He gripped the knife and yanked upward. It hardly budged. Aster's hand gave a spasm, tightening around Jack's. Sandy had an expression on his face, clearly wondering if they were all idiots. Jack caught the look and voiced Sandy's point. "Um, has anyone considered the fact that we have a doctor who's all too willing to help us? And who, y'know, probably has a little more experience with this?"

"He will still have to pull knife out," North said, grunting as he yanked on the knife again. "He will not be able to if I cannot."

Sandy sighed and moved into North's way. The Russian stepped back in surprise. Sandy gripped the knife handle with one hand and wiggled it a bit. Aster's nails were drawing blood from Jack's hand at this point. Sandy pulled it upward slowly, jiggling it back and forth to cut anything blocking the knife's way. After a few moments he had pulled out an inch of the blade. He then yanked it upward in a swift motion. The knife came out.

Ana face-palmed.

"Hey, Aster, how you feeling?" North asked.

Aster groaned.

-.-.-.-

**January 18**

Manny stopped by a few days later to check up on them. He found an extremely irritable Aster on his own in the warehouse with a bandaged shoulder. After reprimanding him for not going straight to the doctor's house, he set about checking the injury and making sure they had done everything possible to make sure it would heal. He approved the stitches and wrapped it back up with several words of advice on how to care for it.

As he had been putting the bandages back on, Aster had filled him in on everything that had happened. They had _finally_ finished their assessment on everyone's routes home, to the relief of the entire group. They were now evaluating the best ways to make sure they could protect as many as they could while the kids went home. Since Pitch's latest move had been discovered by them because of Jamie, they had taken to having someone watch as he left school to make sure he didn't stay behind and try to get into contact with them again. They knew he had learned that they had been listening, probably from Pippa, and had left a thank you note by the playground. He hadn't told them about anything else yet.

Meanwhile, the heating problem was becoming severe as it became extremely obvious that it had, indeed, been cut. They had actually robbed a store for blankets – "Don't look at me like that, of course we left money for it!" - , as they had already stripped everything they could from Manny's and Wind's houses. Jack's house had been entirely cleaned out by now, courtesy of the realtors who were trying to sell the house (or maybe it had been done by the town who was trying to get rid of the sorry sight). It had been getting rather difficult to keep warm as the last remaining scraps of heat faded away into the cold air. It was getting colder and colder every night they fell asleep. Manny suggested they light a fire and use that to keep warm. Aster said they'd think about it.

Lastly, and certainly not least, Aster reported the full events of their first loss. He explained how they had come to learn about what Pitch had started doing and how they had done their best to combat it. Pippa's case had been a win, as Pitch had been unable to break into her house since his first attack. Her knowledge that there was someone there to protect her had kept her from being scared and she had made sure everything door and window in her house was locked. Enough time hadn't passed for them to yet know how much they would be affected by a child knowing that there were, for sure, real people running around town helping others. She had obviously told Jamie what had happened, but Sandy, who had hidden nearby while he retold the story, had heard nothing that gave them away. It sounded the same as the first story that had been told.

The loss had been the Hassen family. Even after Pitch had stopped visiting them, he had left an impression. The children suffered from nightmares every night. Their attitudes had begun to change entirely, being molded by fear. It was tragic, watching their old, cheerful, excited selves begin slipping away as the days went by. The guardians of the children had learned from eavesdropping that the older brother, Nathaniel Hassen, was returning to Burgess to try and figure out what was wrong. Jack had told them all he knew about Nathaniel's affiliation with Pitch and how it was not good news that he was coming home. This had been a decisive loss, the first one that they would face.

There would be more to come. But that all came with the job.

**January 25**

Ombric was a patient teacher. They had learned that back in New York when they had covered the basics of working with messenger pigeons. He loved teaching anything, as he would tell them random and relatively unimportant facts that he knew off the top of his head, but loved even more so having a good audience on which to impart it. His students, rambunctious young teenagers that they were, turned out to be surprisingly ambitious and intelligent kids. Wind, who came by the warehouse every day after work to learn her share because she knew she would be stuck dealing with this at some point, was less of an excellent student. She always seemed to be scowling and sulking behind everyone else, clearly not wanting to be here. Manny never stopped by for a lesson because he had worked with Ombric before and knew how to work with the pigeons.

The old man had finally managed to make it down from New York six days ago. He had moved in rather quickly but with much grumbling about the cold. The pigeons were just as flustered about the cold and the heaters that Wind and Manny had both brought were quickly positioned right next to the bird cages. The cat Baby Tooth, owned by Ana but adopted by the rest, had been rather disappointed that she couldn't eat any of the birds. She had caused the humans almost as much worry as the cold had in terms of the pigeons' safety, but luckily she had not yet taken a swipe at them.

Aster spent the most time with Ombric, having been banned from the field work for another few weeks while his shoulder healed. He also hated the birds the most, finding them annoying and so very picky. North learned the best and fastest, absorbing everything as quickly as Ombric could spat it out. It was hard to know whether or not Sandy understood what he was supposed to do immediately, but every time he was asked to do something, he always did it right. It was assumed he did. Jack didn't learn everything as fast as had been expected of him, but he understood it rather quickly and could pick up on the tricks of the trade easily. Ana did the worst at it, simply because half her time was spent dragging Baby Tooth away from where they were working. Wind tried to get out of even having to touch the birds.

North and Ombric had gone out into the woods and found a spot they thought was suitable for building the base. As they had begun planning out a design, Ana had pointed out that the birds couldn't be kept close to the ground because of wild animals and couldn't be kept inside because they weren't going to have enough space. They were barely going to have room to sleep as it was. The decision to make something in the trees was quickly made and Ana and Sandy began working on that. Meanwhile, Jack would disappear for hours on end to map the forest so they could better decide how to use the pigeons to communicate.

It was decided that there would be multiple roosts around the forest. Different pigeons would be assigned to different roosts, and each day in the morning the pigeons would be moved to that particular roost. If there were an incident requiring someone to send a message, they would tie it on and then send the bird on its way. The bird would fly to the home base (yet to be built, which was causing a slight problem with teaching the pigeons where to go because they weren't entirely sure of the exact spot in the clearing they wanted the birds to fly to) and deliver the message. The message would be received and sent on its way to another source using a different bird.

Messenger pigeons usually only flew one route. More often than not, that route was to their home. Other times they would fly from one place to another to get from one place with food to another place with food. While it would have been simpler to have enough pigeons to be able to send one to each roost from each roost, there was no way they would be able to handle that many. As it was, they were only working with twelve at the moment. The roosts had already been designed and were being built by North and Ombric. Ana and Sandy had decided on where they should go.

The idea was a splendid one and the test trials worked excellently. The pigeons did exactly as they were told. And then Baby Tooth finally scored and ate one. And then a group of teenage boys playing around with one of their father's guns shot another while it was in flight. That left them with ten pigeons, much to Ombric's severe annoyance. Aster was ready to strangle the other ten from the mess they left all over the floor, the mess that he was forced to clean up because he had the most "free time", but efforts from the rest proved sufficient enough to prevent him from doing so.

Ombric was eager to see how well they would fare for doing what the group had in mind. Unfortunately, it was pointed out to him multiple times that they couldn't just go pick a fight because they needed to test the pigeons' abilities to work in a stressed environment. One of the best things about using the pigeons was that Pitch would never suspect it, but one of the worst things was that they would be easily picked off once he figured it out. The pigeons didn't exactly blend in during the winter time. For that reason, they were mostly just being used for training purposes at the moment.

The group had decided within the last few days to try to take any fights into the forest. They could make that home territory for them rather easily and it would prevent any random strangers from getting involved. The area was large enough that it would not be hard to get everyone from both sides in there and not have people running into each other left and right. It was a twenty-five by seventeen mile area. Mapping it was going to take a long time, but at least they would have a head start on Pitch. It was also an ideal location because it was right smack in the middle of everything that Pitch was doing.

Shortly after saving Pippa but losing the Hassens, Pitch had begun branching out. He was now haunting as many children as he could across Burgess, but also moving into Harrisville and Corta. If they had been able to find where Pitch's base was, they could have kept a closer eye on him and tried to follow his people to see where they would strike next. But then, if they knew where Pitch's base was, they could have just handed him over to Wind, who could have taken him straight to the police station. As it was, they had compiled a list using school records of how many students at the school had older siblings or relatives who had worked for Pitch before. So far, by using that list, they had actually caught Pitch or someone who worked for him in the act several times. That had been the most convenient method so far to get to him.

Jamie's story telling had been incredibly helpful towards motivating the kids about locking their doors. It had also pushed them into believing that the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Jack Frost were all helping to keep them safe from the Boogeyman. Pippa had confirmed a sighting of the last one, saying she had seen his white hair when he and Santa Claus had been fighting Pitch over her house.

Keeping a close eye on Jamie and Pippa had been a crucial part of keeping their cover. They were going to be the closest to ever learning that their saviors were not actually the legends that they thought they were. In fact, the seeds of doubt were probably already planted in their minds. The storytelling was just for the kids. Jamie had a good imagination, but he wouldn't have ever taken it to _that_ extent. It seemed like the rest of the kids who had been trapped under the snow that first time had already moved on, though. They remembered but weren't lingering on it as much. Something was definitely up with Jamie.

Ombric had been kept updated on everything that had happened since. He commented on the last bit. "What's the problem about a few kids knowing?" he asked.

Aster gave him a look. "The problem is that they're going to spread the word and this won't work anymore. It has to work."

"Why?"

"The alternate isn't something we're going to accept," Jack said firmly. Ombric smiled, satisfied with that answer.

-.-.-.-.-

**February 4**

Dr. Moon opened his door. It was late at night, almost to twelve. He had stopped by the warehouse to check up on the kids. Ombric was staying with them, simply because he was afraid of Baby Tooth eating anymore of pigeons. He had concluded that Aster's injury was entirely healed, which just meant they were switching one injury out for another. Jack had gotten a concussion when one Onyx had smacked him particularly hard over the head with a branch. The lack of coordination he had displayed lead him to being forced out of the field by everyone, since there was considerable worry he would fall off a roof.

Because he had gone straight to the warehouse after work, he had missed eating dinner. He dropped his backpack off in the hallway since he took it with him every day now. It had emergency medical supplies in it, now used almost weekly because of the injuries the kids would sustain. Usually it wasn't bad enough to take them out of the field, but there had been some infections and scrapes already. Ana had two cracked ribs from a solid hit Pitch had gotten in, but she had said it wasn't too bad and that she wouldn't do anything too strenuous in the field. Of course, the next day she had jumped from Wind's moving car to tackle two of Pitch's workers before they got to a child's house.

He flicked the light on, and then paused. Pitch was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in one hand. "You know, I scoured the list of employees at the hospital and found no 'Dr. Moon' listed in their records," Pitch mused, his tone surprisingly casual.

"Yet you found me."

"Thanks to a bit of stalking."

The doctor chuckled. " 'Dr. Moon' is a nickname my co-workers gave me in medical school."

"And it became so popular that your place of employment uses it in place of your actual name…which is what, anyway?"

"Yes, to be honest I'm not sure why they use it the way they do. My full name is Tsar Manfred Lunanoff."

Pitch quirked an eyebrow, incredulous. "Seriously?"

"Unfortunately."

"No wonder you go by a variety of nicknames. One of them is Manny, is it not? Given to you by your friends. You were 'the man' to go to for medical treatment."

"Is there something you want, Pitch?" He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out leftovers from the night before, ignoring that he had a drug lord in his kitchen for the moment. It wasn't something to freak out over. "I'd like to go to sleep sometime soon, after I eat."

"You know it's not healthy to eat right before sleep," Pitch chided the doctor.

"It's also not healthy to skip meals." After removing the plastic covering, he put the plate in the microwave and turned it on. "I noticed you didn't break in through the front door, but do I have to replace a lock in the back? Or a window?"

"No, I got in through the garage door. It hadn't entirely closed." He gestured to another mug of coffee sitting across the table from him. "Have a seat. No need to make this conversation awkward."

"You broke into my home. It's plenty awkward already." He sat down anyway, accepting the mug. He glanced down, noticing that the warm temperature of a fresh cup had not yet faded. "I assume you had the kettle on and just poured the cups for dramatic effect right as I was walking in."

"Of course."

"Now, your point is…?"

Pitch sighed, shaking his head back and forth. "This is a bad business we've all gotten into. I didn't mean for you to be dragged into this. You saved my life, back when I had that lung infection. There are not many who could have done something, considering the state I was in. That's why I want you to stop helping them. This isn't a fairy tale like the kids are making it out to be. Jack and his friends are not going to survive if they keep this up."

The doctor shook his head. "You were in a tough spot then. These kids are in a tough spot now. I won't stop helping them. They need my help as much as you did. I'm sorry I couldn't do enough for you back then, but maybe I can do everything possible for these kids now."

Pitch frowned in confusion. "No, you've got it wrong, you did everything you could for me. That's why I'm still alive!"

The doctor sighed. "If I had, you wouldn't be doing what you're doing now. You'd be on your way to college in a few months, not hiding in town, selling drugs, and scaring kids. I regret not doing something sooner, but I didn't think it would get this bad."

Pitch snarled angrily. "This is what I was meant to do. Don't you see the potential? Guiding kids by fear instead of hopes and dreams? It's all the more painful when something goes wrong because they were expecting it to right. If they know what can go wrong and expect it to go wrong, they won't be upset if it fails. Imagine how happy they would be if it succeeded." He didn't look like he cared whether they were happy or not. "It's not right, the way they're teaching kids now. I mean to change that."

"Pitch…"

"No, don't give me that voice," he snapped. "I know it too well. I should give it up, I should do something different. I heard it from my teachers all the time. Well, you can guess whose kids are going to get scared as soon as I'm done bringing my team of associates back together."

"Why are you bringing your old friends back? Why not just use new ones?"

Pitch was shaking his head before he even finished. "The old ones are smart and I know they can do it. Why risk new ones? The old ones worked perfectly fine. They just need some new guidance. They listen to their teachers too much. They should learn to think for themselves."

"Or they should just let you think for them."

Pitch glared at him. "I'm warning you. Stop working with the kids. Better yet, get them to back off. There's no point in continuing to help them now. Get them to stop. You know they'll just be injured if they continue working like this. They've already suffered several injuries. I promise you, I will tell every man and woman who works for me that if they see any of them, they are to stop what they are doing and go out of the way to harm those five. I want them off the streets _now_."

Dr. Moon set his jaw. He ignored the microwave as it beeped at him. "Those kids are stronger than you give them credit for. They're going to give you a run for your money, and even if you ruin them, I think they'll still have something left to throw at you. They won't ever give up. You can't stop them. Maybe it's you who should think about an early retirement instead of them."

"I won't give in to someone such as them," he snapped. "Young and immature. Sandy's creative and headstrong. He can push them to get anything done that they need to do. But he can't get every idea across to them and he can't make them cooperate nearly as well as he wants to. Ana works to keep her family safe and will do anything to make sure they're alright. But she's just now settling in to the idea of who her new family is and she still has doubts. North is strong and a leader, but the plans don't come from him. He just implements them. Jack is practically a genius, but he's way too arrogant and brash to be anything more than unstable. Aster would be the perfect one to bond everybody together, but he's suffering from an emotional overload right now."

"They're just learning," Manny said. "It's only been a few months and they've matched you blow for blow."

"They're counterattacking," Pitch sneered. "They're never going to win if they're on the defense all the time. Haven't they learned that yet?"

Manny kept quiet about them laying out plans for an offense later, what with the intricate use of the forest. "If they're so good at the defense without even trying all that hard, it looks like they are going to have no trouble with offense once they set their minds to it."

Pitch slammed his cup down on the table. The tea sloshed over the edge and onto the table and his hand, but he paid it no heed. "It doesn't matter if they're going to get good at it _in a few months_," he seethed. "I'll make sure they can't do anything more within the next _month_. Let's see how that works out for them, huh?" He stood up abruptly, shoving his chair back. Without looking back, he stalked out of the room. The back door slammed shut a few seconds later.

Manny sighed and cleaned up the mess. He put both mugs in the sink, each nearly full. The food in the microwave turned out to be less than decent, not being a meal that one wanted to reheat. It tasted like how he felt, running a temperature to high to keep all of the tastes just the way they should be. It would take a while before it was at a temperature where it would be a good meal, but by then, he would have already eaten it.

-.-.-.-

Aster had the night off for once. There weren't many of Pitch's people out on the streets. It seemed like they were regrouping and coming up with new plans now on how to operate. Their methods had begun changing slightly over the last few days. If something happened, someone would come get him so he could help.

Jack was already asleep, wrapped in blankets and curled on one side. Aster settled down, all too happy to be able to go to sleep at a decent time for once. Their sleep schedules were non-existent at this point. It was a good thing they no longer had school to worry about because there was no way they would ever have been able to pay attention in class. At this rate, they were never going to be able to finish their schooling, but then, they were also going to be in jail or dead by thirty if things kept going the way they were headed.

The cold was still a problem, Aster noted as he wrapped himself up tighter in the blanket. The stupid pigeons got most of the heat, but he wasn't about to go lay anywhere near those blasted birds and their poop splatter. At least he didn't have to clean it up anymore. Jack was going to have to do that now. They were fluttering every few minutes, trying to keep warm and get in closer to each other.

He was nearly asleep when Jack started stirring. At first, he thought the other teenager was just trying to get comfortable. After five minutes of it, though, he began to suspect differently. "Jack, if ya don't shaddup, I'm goin' ta come over there an' it won't be pleasant."

Jack didn't respond, shifting once again.

Aster groaned and threw some of his blankets off, although he took one with him. He dropped down beside Jack and poked him in the arm. Jack probably didn't even feel it through the blankets so he shoved him lightly in the same place. Jack didn't react and Aster realized he was asleep. He sat down, realizing this was going to take a while. Jack slept like the dead. It was starting to get easier to wake him because they had all been getting up so often, but he had a concussion right now and was back to sleeping like normal. That was fine for him, but the person trying to wake him.

Jack jerked in his sleep, curling up slightly. Aster paused and frowned. He jerked again, folding in on himself further. After a few seconds, he straightened and kicked out. He made a soft sound, going perfectly still for a few moments. Then he threw off multiple blankets, trying to remove the weight. Aster half-heartedly batted some of the fabric away to help, still confused about what his friend was doing in his sleep.

He shook his arm again, but Jack jerked away and started curling up once more. With the blankets out of the way, he was in a tight ball within seconds. He didn't talk or whimper, just lay there in the cold. Aster grabbed some of the blankets, pulling them back over him. Jack tried to throw them off again, but Aster pushed his hands away and started tucking the corners around his friend to keep him warm.

Jack started to get his arms out from underneath the blankets, but Aster played the parental role and covered them back up. He waited until Jack had relaxed enough before trying to tuck the blankets in on that side. It would be much easier if Jack didn't go into a coma when he slept. He couldn't even wake him up in situations like this. Jack had only talked in his sleep once, but it had been a soft murmur and Aster had had no clue what had been said. This time, Jack was moving _and_ talking.

He thrashed suddenly, throwing all the blankets in disarray and knocking Aster off balance. Aster scowled and sat up straight, reaching forward a second later and enveloping Jack in a hug. He had learned before that that was the fastest way to calm him down. Sure enough, the white headed teenager calmed almost immediately, breathing returning to normal and body relaxing.

Aster tried again, tapping his fist lightly against Jack's head. "Wake up," he said. Jack grunted. Aster did it again, just a little harder. "Now, or I'm giving you a second concussion."

Jack's eyes opened after the fifth try, looking up at him. "What?" he muttered. "Go to sleep."

"I can't 'cause you're tossin' an' turnin' all over the place. It's distractin'."

Jack groaned, closing his eyes in irritation. "I can't control what I do in my sleep!"

"Are ya havin' nightmares?"

Jack opened his eyes, staring at him seriously. "Why?"

Aster paused. "I am, too. An' Ana's not been sleepin' well either. North randomly shouts things in Russian all the time, but I'm not sure if that's 'cause he's at a party or what."

Jack stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I've having them almost every night now. I don't wake up unless someone dumps water over my head-" a reference to a gesture by Aster three days ago "-so I'm stuck. Why is my head on your lap?"

"I had to find some way ta wake ya up. Hugging still works."

Jack sighed, sitting up and rubbing his face with his hands. "We're a real mess, you know that? The two of us. Everyone else is, too, but we're…we're something else."

"Why does hugging work? I mean, when I did that before all this started, it was 'cause yer dad had just beaten the shit outta ya."

Jack blinked, the only sign that Aster's statement affected him. "I don't know."

"Really?" he said doubtfully.

Jack stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "No one but Emma ever hugged me before."

Aster paused. Not wanting to make a big deal about a piece of information Jack clearly hadn't even wanted to part with, he moved past it quickly. "I guess that makes sense. So I guess yer nightmares are about 'im, then?" he asked, referring to Jack's father.

Jack gave him a look. "I'm not scared of him, Aster. If you recall, I could beat him up in return pretty badly, too." Aster stared at him levelly. "Fine. I don't like not having any degree of control, and that's what it felt like. And I wonder if it's my fault that my family's messed up, 'cause we only had serious problems after I yelled at my father for alcoholism."

Aster frowned. "Hey, ya know that's not true."

"Is it?" Jack folded his arms. "You didn't really know us before. We hardly ever spoke to each other, but at least no one yelled at each other and there were never any blood stains on the walls and carpet." He started to stand up, but Aster grabbed his arm and forced him back down. Jack glanced at him but got a face full of blanket as it was thrown at him. He tugged it around himself and scowled at the ground.

Aster didn't say anything, content to simply sit with him.

-.-.-.-

LIST OF SYMBOLISM (Aster): Boomerang – erratic mood swings.

Fur patterns – burn scars.

No family – parents killed in car accident, brother in coma.

(Sandy): Corrupted Dreamsand – parents help Pitch.

(North): Swords – more likely to act first and ask questions later.

Elves – had ferrets at home.

Foster child.

(Ana): Guardian of Memories – creates family ties between them all.

Fairy army – rarely gets into fights, but if so, has others to help and never has to do it alone./Fairy army – aunt always cooked enough "for an army".

(Wind): Jack's guardian – made him get his act together when he was younger.

Transportation - gets them from place to place.

(Pitch): Possessed by fearlings – started acting creepy after he had infection in the lungs.


	4. Chapter 3

**January 30**

"I think it's time you need to drop off the map entirely," Wind said firmly. She was in the warehouse, which she was beginning to hate more and more with each passing day. "The police are starting to pick up on the idea that you might not have left town. They're going to start looking closer to home soon. I'll be able to give you a warning if they raid this place, but it won't be fast enough for you to grab all your supplies."

"So we need to fake our deaths," Ana said simply.

Wind paused. "If you do that," she said carefully, "you can't return to a normal life. That's the last straw. Every other law you broke would land you in jail for a few months, maybe a few years. That…would permanently mark your record, not to even mention all the lost time you would have to make up. If you fake your deaths, it should be for good."

Aster shrugged, taking a sip of the coffee Wind had courteously delivered. "I'm for it whenever."

"Same," Jack said without missing a beat. Ana nodded her head in agreement. Sandy gave two thumbs up.

"Whatever needs to be done," North said, like the whole concept was common sense and just another regular event of the day. "Should we get started soon?" Wind did her best to not react to the nonchalance of the entire group about faking their deaths.

"You, Ana, and Sandy are all still busy. We're not entirely done mapping the forest," Jack said, including Wind in the 'we', "but I'll stop to help Aster plan our deaths." Aster held up his cup for a moment in cheers to that before taking another sip. "There's another storm coming in. We can use that to our advantage."

"Let's grab some 'a the empty cans 'a food," Aster suggested, "an' some 'a the full ones. Make it look like we froze out there."

"No, then we have to do something about bodies," Ana said, shaking her head.

"How deep is the reservoir?" Jack asked. The reservoir was right beside the road to Harrisville from Burgess. It would have been a border of the forest if not for the road. "Maybe two or three of us fell through the ice into one of the rivers and got swept out there, and the rest fell through the ice while trying to get the others out."

Aster nodded. "Yeah, an' then our bodies just sank ta the bottom. Maybe the fishies ate us before the police got ta our bodies."

Ana made a face. "Okay, thank you, Aster, for that visual image." He smirked in return, finishing off the last of his coffee. Wind tried not to roll her eyes at their antics. "Jack, are you sure the current is strong enough to pull our bodies out there?"

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

"The police would believe it for sure," Wind said. "How are you going to make it seem like you fell in, then?"

"The ice is pretty strong right now," Jack said slowly. "Maybe three of us were on the ice in the same area and all fell through at the same time. What if we faked it while the police were searching for us? Maybe we were hiding on the river."

"An' just a little ways away, we could leave fake supplies," Aster suggested. "Hey, maybe there were only three of us by that time. The other two died 'a frostbite an' were buried."

"It's cold enough," Ana agreed. "Hey, what if we were trying to put the two who had died in the river as a funeral? The ground's too hard to bury them. And then more of the ice broke away and we all fell in."

Wind nodded. "That avoids a near brush with the police if you go about it that way instead of doing it while they are running after you." She rolled one shoulder as if working out a kink. The day before, she had mentioned a training session with her partner. It seemed like Officer Nimoy still had a good right hook. "They won't bother to search any more if they think you're dead. It's a case we all just want wrapped up as soon as possible."

Aster rolled one of his shoulders back and groaned. "Let's get this started then, shall we?" He sighed and stood up. Jack made a gesture to let him finish his soup, bringing the bowl and spoon up to his mouth. Aster grabbed the back of his sweater, spilling some of the hot liquid. Jack set the bowl down quickly, blowing on his hands as Aster practically dragged him out the door. Wind rolled her eyes. Working with these kids made life so much more entertaining.

-.-.-.-

Breaking the ice proved to be a lot harder than they thought. Aster and Jack sat on the riverbank in silence, tossing rocks out on the frozen river for a while. They had already planted the canned food and supplies to make it look like they had been camping outside.

"It's not working," Jack said, bored, as he tossed another rock out. When he had nearly drowned a few months ago, someone had used a staff to save his life. The staff was tucked against his side now. Aster had seen him use it a few times to get onto roofs or to hobble around if he was injured. It would have looked extremely odd if anyone but Jack had been using it.

Aster grunted. He threw three out. They landed with a heavy thump but didn't even crack the ice.

"Think we should try something else?"

"If ya want ta go out onta the ice an' pound on it, be my guest. I'm not pullin' ya out if ya fall in." He lobbed another rock out and frowned, starting to count the amount of rocks already on the ice. "Damn. When that river freezes, it really _freezes_…" He glanced to the side at Jack and started when he realized his friend wasn't there. "Jack?" He looked around, a bad feeling settling in his stomach. A flash of white hair caught his eye a few yards down. "Jack!"

"Stay there," Jack called back, dropping down from the rocky edge above the river. Aster hissed in an irritated breath and scrambled to his feet. Jack put his arms out for balance, staff in one hand. He started edging forward on the ice, feet sliding ever so slightly. Aster dropped down on the edge on his stomach, reaching forward with one arm to snatch at Jack. His fingers barely graced the sweatshirt's hood. He tried again, straining as hard as he could without falling off. Jack shifted forward another step and Aster's reach fell short again.

"_Jack!" _he snarled angrily. "Yer goin' ta get yerself killed!"

"Yeah, yeah, and you're not going to come in after me. Got it."

"This is stupid! Get back here!" Jack took another step forward. The ice was holding steady, but Jack looked extremely uncertain. "What d'ya think yer doin'?!"

Jack made an annoyed sound and lifted one foot. He yanked off his shoe and tossed it aside. "I'm going to fall and crack the ice open with my head if these slip around much more," he grumbled. He yanked the other one off.

Aster slammed his hand against the ground in anger and brought his legs up closer to the edge. He clung onto the side of it as he dropped down to the flat rocks right beneath it. A faint sheen of ice covered them, making it slippery to stand. He stepped out carefully, grasping towards Jack. His friend was already out of reach, moving closer and closer to where all the rocks were clumped together. Jack stopped a foot away. He bounced on his heels, testing the strength of the ice.

"Jack!"

"Stop freaking out," Jack scolded. "I'm just going to cause a few cracks and then get off. Don't worry about it."

"I am goin' ta worry about it."

"Aw, thanks."

" 'Cause Wind'll skin me if ya get killed!"

Jack scoffed. "I'm not going to get killed." He twirled the staff in one hand. "Besides," he said teasingly, "I know you'll catch me if I fall."

He slammed the staff into the ice.

Aster's eyes widened as he heard a creak coming from below. "Jack…" Jack raised the staff again. "Jack, stop!" The staff hit the ice again, sending a few shards of ice into the air. A small crack adorned the ice now. "We'll find another way!"

Jack scowled. "With three of us on the ice and two bodies, we would have definitely fallen through. It makes the most sense to do."

"We're not even know fer sure that the currents woulda carried us ta the reservoir!"

"I know they would have."

Aster paused, staring at him. "What?" Jack cringed slightly, shoulders rolling up protectively. He shot a guilty glance over one of them. Aster looked at him in confusion. "I don't…"

Jack turned back to what he was doing and hit the ice with his staff again. The crack got longer and another one showed up in a layer beneath it. "Wow, the ice is stronger than I thought it would be. There was probably something that slowed the current long enough for this to happen," he mused lightly, trying to redirect the conversation.

"When would ya have studied the water currents here?" Aster asked slowly.

"Don't worry about it," Jack said cheerfully. He slammed the staff down again. A sudden shift in the ice jolted Aster out of his thoughts and he growled, stepping forward.

"Look, let's tie some rocks ta some branches an' whack the ice that way! Yer actin' nuts!"

"We're not going to be able to get enough leverage and we're been out here for a long time already!" Jack replied, annoyed. "Just stay right there and it'll be fine." He tried to smash the ice again.

"Yer goin' ta get frostbite if ya stand on the ice with bare feet much longer even if ya don't fall in! Get back here!"

"We have to do this!" Jack unexpectedly yelled back, whirling on him but not stepping closer. "What happens if the police keep looking? They'll find us, that's what! You don't have a home, Sandy's parents are helping Pitch, Ana's aunt and uncle lied to her about who they were… My dad…"

Aster was torn between comforting him and beating sense into him. The comfort would probably be unwelcome and he doubted Jack would listen to sense. "I thought ya weren't afraid of 'im."

Jack shook his head. "I'm not, it's just… I… I can't…"

"You hate 'im?"

"No, well, maybe, but… _I don't know_!" He hit the ice again in frustration. It groaned underneath his weight and Aster flinched. "Is that wrong?" He looked at Aster pleadingly. "Shouldn't I just accept him the way he is? Isn't that what family is supposed to do?" His gaze went back to the ice. "Is it my fault my family split up? That Mom ran off even though she wasn't in danger? That Emma was sent to live with our aunt and uncle in Georgia? That Dad's in prison? Is it my fault?"

Aster stared at the ground, not sure what to say.

"Well? Is it?"

The ice creaked again.

"Get off the ice, Jack," Aster said wearily. "Please."

Jack glared at him, angry for the dismissal of the conversation he was trying to have. Aster glanced up as Jack slammed the staff into the ice repeatedly, again and again. Aster was aware he was yelling something at him, but in his anger he didn't know for sure what he was saying. Jack ignored it and hit the ice again. The staff was splashing into the water now, causing droplets to hit the ice and make it more slippery. Jack ignored that too, gouging out chunks of the ice and unaware that the surface he stood on was getting weaker.

Aster glanced at the wall and then the ice. He let out a snarl, stepping onto the ice without considering the consequences. Walking was difficult, but he wasn't going for elegance, falling and sliding as much as he was standing. The ice cracked loudly as he neared Jack. The white headed teenager stopped as his balance shifted. Aster grabbed his hood in one hand and backpedaled, pulling them both away from the large cracks. A chunk fell off, scraping against the sturdy ice before slipping under and into the water. Jack stared at it as Aster dragged him back, snatching his shoes up as they went. Not too gently, he grabbed Jack's arm and shoved him up towards the rocky edge. Jack flailed a second too late to stop him, surprised at the gesture.

"Hey," he cried out, "_hey!"_

Aster scowled and threw him. Jack fell with one leg and more of his torso on the rock. He scrabbled against the snow, gripping something in the ground and using it to haul himself the rest of the way onto the solid surface. He turned around a moment later and reached down. Aster grabbed the hand and planted one foot against the wall, using both to boost himself over. He sat down heavily next to his friend and watched the ice as it cracked up further, the weight of the rocks pushing down on the weakened surface. The spot where Jack had been standing was gone by now.

Jack dipped his head, pulling up his hood to cover his face and bringing his knees in close, as if hiding in plain sight from Aster. He folded his arms across his chest, probably glaring at his legs as if they were causing all this. Aster rolled his eyes and sighed, reaching up to yank the hood down. Jack redirected his gaze to Aster.

"Yeah, fine," Aster snapped. "It was yer fault."

Jack grimaced and nodding, having clearly already believed that.

"Don't ya ever tell the others about this or they'll have my head."

"Don't tell about the ice."

"As far as I'm concerned, the rocks broke it up. You just gave 'em a little help." He punched Jack lightly in the arm. "Look, it's yer fault that they all split up. But it's not yer fault that yer family just wasn't meant ta stay together. That night…when yer dad beat ya unconscious…" An almost unnoticeable wince crossed Jack's face. "Yer mom left way too fast. I'll bet she was already packed. Yer dad had this comin' ta 'im. Don't ya _ever_ feel bad about puttin' 'im away fer layin' a hand on ya. _Ever_, ya hear me?"

He looked at Jack, but Jack was still glaring at the ice. "Yeah, got it."

Aster elbowed him in the ribs. "Ya screw up a lot, but yer not that bad." He stood up, brushing snow off. "Come on, let's get back ta the others an' tell 'em we're done. Ana seemed to want it over with as soon as possible."

"Aster," Jack said, not standing. He glanced up at him. "Do you think I'll see Emma again?"

Aster stared at him for a few seconds, speechless again. Why was Jack hitting him with all these hard questions? Did Aster look like he was all-knowing or something? "No," he said hesitantly. Jack looked away. "The way things are goin', I don't think you'll see her for a couple 'a years, at least. I think chances are slim you'll see her again." He reached down and pulled Jack up to his feet. "Look, once things cool down… I'll go wi' ya ta Georgia. We'll find 'er."

Jack smiled at him and that made the past ten minutes worth everything to see Jack's worry fall aside like that.

-.-.-.-

The others were still busying themselves when they got back. Ana glanced over and Aster nodded. She breathed out a sigh of relief. "That's out of the way, then," she said. "You guys want to drop off a note at her house when it gets dark to tell her it's done? Take the patrol around Jamie's if you do."

"Ya really don't want ta be involved in this, do ya?" he said, plopping himself down beside her. "Have we got food?"

Ana bit her lip and looked at North. The Russian glanced up briefly before going back to his work. "Yeah, but…"

"We're running out and it's going to start getting obvious if Manny and Wind are paying for a lot more food," Jack summarized. "Plus, it'll deplete their bank accounts." He sighed, sitting down. The staff leaned against his shoulder. "We can't live off them forever anyway. We need somewhere to get food from."

"Ombric is donating supplies," North said. "Even though he is not happy about another pigeon being eaten by Baby Tooth…"

"They're all going to be gone before we can even use them at this rate," Jack grumbled. "Isn't there a way to stop them from getting killed off so easily? It'll be even worse once we start using them in the forest. If we can't figure something out now…" He shrugged, not really caring either way. "It's that or we find another way to contact each other."

"He is thinking the same thing and is going home for a bit to try and find alternative," North said. "Pigeons are not working."

"Glad someone else agrees," Aster muttered, all too happy to never have to clean up pigeon poop again. "How long should it be until the base is built? I keep thinkin' the owners here are goin' ta walk in on us at any time."

North waved him off. "Do not worry, it will be fine. Home should have construction started in March."

"_March_? I was lookin' for an answer like tomorrow, mate!"

"You do not rush building home!"

"Ya do when ya don't have much else to live in!"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Jack, are the police going to believe we fell through?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about it. We're in the clear." Aster looked away from him. If Jack could look that nonchalant and laid back when he had just been in the middle of a nervous breakdown not half an hour ago, how was Aster ever going to know when he had a problem again? Damn white headed brat. Aster didn't need anything else to worry about. At least he had said something today, though.

"What happened to your feet? Where are your shoes?" Ana suddenly demanded. The entire group looked at Jack's feet, which were bright red from the cold snow. He had shoved the shoes away when Aster had tried to give them to him earlier, but he caught them now as Aster threw them at him.

"It was more difficult to walk with them," Jack grumbled.

"Frostbite here was tryin' ta freeze his feet off."

"Frostbite?" Jack muttered. "You know a nickname is usually shorter than the original name, right?"

"Says who?"

Ana groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Would you two give it a rest for a few minutes, please?"

"I see grey hairs and migraines in your future," Jack said knowingly. "Maybe the present, too. Is that just the light, or-?" He reached over to lift one strand. She smacked his hand away and he laughed. "Darn, couldn't get a good enough look to tell for sure." She gave him a level look. Jack grinned.

"Come on, we have to patrol when school gets out," North said. "Best get some rest now."

-.-.-.-

**February 15**

Aster grumbled to himself, dumping some of the leftover bread crumbs on the pavement outside the warehouse. They were going to get moldy soon. There were only three pigeons left of the original batch, thanks to plenty of accidents and misfortunes while attempting to train with them. The area they were in just wasn't suitable for the pigeons, it seemed. The bread was leftover and no one was going to be able to eat it, so he was dumping it outside for anything that _could_ eat it. He wasn't sure if he felt sorry for the birds, but he was glad they were gone. It was a stupid idea to begin with, especially considering that this was the sixth time he'd had to get rid of extra bread. It pained him to do so when they were being so careful with how much food they used.

He sat down on the sidewalk a short distance away from the bread crumbs, staring at it. Every time he put the crumbs out here, they would vanish after just a half hour. Were the raccoons staking out this spot or something? There was nothing to do, it being the middle of the day with all the kids in school, so he decided to find out.

Ana plopped down next to him a few minutes later. "Jack went out to finish mapping the forest," she said. "It's almost done. I offered to go with him, but he said he didn't want to keep me away from other work I had to do. What does he think I need to get done, exactly?"

"It's not you. He likes solitude," Aster said, not turning to look at her. She glanced at him in surprise. When she didn't say anything, he sighed and continued. "He's not used ta bein' 'round people so much. It's a bit overwhelming, so he goes inta the forest."

"That's right, his family wasn't very close…" Even though she had seen firsthand evidence, it was hard to believe that when Jack always seemed so carefree and excited. Aster knew Jack the best of all of them. He could see past most of Jack's masks and wasn't fooled. "Did he tell you that, or did you just figure it out?"

Aster shrugged. "Both. Oh, try an' hug 'im or pat 'im on the back as much as ya can wi'out makin' it obvious. Ever noticed that he always leans inta touches? His family never really interacted much. It's been years since anyone made sure ta reach out ta 'im like that." He still hadn't looked at her, eyes fixed on the bread crumbs. Maybe it was mice, not raccoons…

Ana grimaced. "Did you tell the others?" He nodded. "Does Jack know you did that?"

Aster shrugged again. "He won't tell me if he knows. Don't worry about it too much. He'll be fine. It's like sprainin' yer ankle. Really painful for a while, but as long as ya don't put too much pressure on it, it'll heal wi'out a problem."

"And how are you?"

Now he did look at her, confused for a moment and then a bit irritated that she had brought that up. "I've got other things ta worry about now besides my parents," he muttered, "if ya hadn't noticed our livin' situation."

"Who's paying for Lachlan's life support right now?"

"Godparents. They're in California since there's nothin' for 'em ta do here." He rubbed his neck for a moment. "Manny says there's no change. They don't know if he'll be okay or not." He sighed and gave Ana a weary look. "A part 'a me doesn't want 'im ta wake up. I don't want ta tell 'im our parents are dead an' I'm on the run." He looked back at the bread crumbs. "Alright, enough heart-ta-heart. We're scarin' off whatever's been eatin' the food."

"Is that all you're out here for?"

He grunted and fell into silence. She looked at the crumbs in concentration, as if there were small fairies coming and stealing them but were just too small to be seen. Ten minutes passed and the two remained quiet, waiting for something to happen. Dark shadows were flitting by overhead, but they kept their eyes on the ground. A few more minutes went by until there was a sharp cry and a bird swooped down, wings beating to keep it from slamming into the ground. Aster and Ana blinked in surprise as the raven landed, starting to peck at the crumbs. Another one landed beside it a moment later.

"I woulda thought they migrated," Aster mused aloud. Both scattered, flying up into the air for a few seconds before dropping back down. Ana gave him a look and he became quiet again. They watched the birds peck at the crumbs, eating up the rest before flying away. When it became obvious they weren't coming back, Ana stood up and brushed herself off.

"Well, I'm bringing out more food for them," she said, leaving no room for argument. "There was probably some reason why they couldn't migrate and they ended up stuck here. The food's all frozen."

"Uh, we don't _have_ food ta spare," Aster said, scrambling to his feet. "Ana!"

-.-.-.-

**February 26**

Feeding the ravens had become a daily thing for the two. Aster stopped complaining, realizing Ana wasn't going to give it up. She always went out there, like it was a ritual or something. On occasion, they had to feed them from a different place than the back of the warehouse, but the ravens were smart enough to figure it out and come find them in their new location. They were already out there one time, waiting for Ana to come with the food. Another pigeon had died, giving Ana and Aster even more food to feed them with.

Aster was skipping out on feeding them this afternoon, instead sitting inside with the other three. "North, ya said yer startin' construction soon?"

"Yes. Wind and Manny have been finding equipment and are buying supplies needed for it. I have found the spot I will build on and am starting to clear foliage away. I will probably start building on Thursday. It will not be very big-"

"Anything's better than this rat hole, mate. Tell us what ya need us ta do, an' we'll do it."

"It will not be very sturdy," North warned.

"It'll be surrounded by the trees," Jack pointed out. "That'll block a lot of the wind and other problems from storms, right?"

"It should," North said. "We will not know until we try. The platforms in the woods were finished, even though it does not look like they will be needed anymore. Sandy, what is it you have been working on so much?"

Sandy glanced up at them. They had all directed their attention towards him, clearly having been wondering the same thing about what he was being so secretive about. He waved the question off, trying to get them to move on. "Sandy, you've got to tell us," Jack said, grinning. "You can't be that quiet about it and then not let us know."

Sandy sighed and pulled out a pouch from his back pocket. He walked over to a wall, dipping his fingers in to the pouch as he did so. The others followed, curious about what he was doing. As he pulled his fingers out, they saw that he had a golden mixture slathered onto them. He put his fingertips on the wall and moved his hand, smearing the mixture onto the wall. He continued moving his hand, occasionally dipping it back into the pouch to get more of the mixture onto his fingers. Waves appeared, splashing around a pair of fins. A dolphin came into view, tail slapping the water playfully. Sandy stepped back, watching their reactions.

"That's…" North said, gaping.

"That's bloody awesome. You're drawin' kids dreams!" Aster said. "An' ya did it so fast! That couldn't have taken ya five minutes ta do! How much 'a that stuff 'ave ya got?" Sandy held up the pouch and then tucked it under his arm so he could up both hands, nine fingers in the air. "Nine pouches?" Sandy nodded. "Can ya make more easily enough?" Sandy gave him a look, as if disappointed in him for even asking that question. "Just makin' sure."

"What are you going to do with it?" Jack asked. "It could be used in some many ways, but…"

Sandy stepped forward and ran his clean hand over it. He started scrubbing, putting pressure on the wall. It rubbed off, turning into grit. They winced to see the picture fade away. It looked like sand was falling off instead of the mixture that had originally gone onto it. Once the picture was gone, he pulled out his notepad and began writing. '_Going to put it on walls of bedroom_'. He showed it to them and then started writing again. _'Paint their dreams and hopes, counteract Pitch's fears'_.

"Good idea!" North patted him on the back. Sandy stumbled forward a step. "Will be very useful!"

"We'll have ta wake the kids up, let 'em see it, an' when they go back ta sleep we'll wipe it off," Aster pointed out.

"What if the kids stay awake to see who's coming? They can't see the Sandman coming in to paint the walls of their room," Jack pointed out.

"They won't be expecting' it for the first few nights, but they'll start fakin' sleep once they figure it out," Aster said. "What if we put a gas into the room ta make sure they fall asleep?"

"A little unorthodox, but it'll work," Jack agreed. He shifted his weight. "Is anyone else getting worried that we haven't seen Pitch do much lately? It seems a little too good to be true. We're really improving, but he's barely doing anything."

"He is after us," North said solemnly. "He does not want to have to learn how to fight us. He wants to be rid of us entirely."

They fell silent, thinking over that grim statement. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as chills went up their spines. To have an enemy with such a hatred towards them was a startling fact to face after living such normal lives.

Ana opened the door, looking curiously behind her. They turned to face her, surprised by the sudden entrance. "Ana, is something wrong?"

She glanced at them, amused. "Aster, you've got visitors." She waved him over.

He frowned, walking towards her. "Huh?"

She ducked suddenly, and one of the ravens flew in, wings beating the air. It rose up a few feet above their heads, eyes scouring the warehouse. It dove towards Aster and landed in front of him, flapping its wings at him in irritation. He stared at it. "_What_?" he snapped. "Do I look like I've got food ta ya?"

Ana laughed. Jack looked confused. "What's with the bird?"

"We've been giving them the extra food. The ravens are under the impression that we exist to feed them now," Ana said, amused. "If we're an hour late, you would think we had just kicked a puppy from how they look at us."

"Bloody annoyances if you ask me," Aster muttered. He dug around in his pockets, feeling some crumbs left over from yesterday. He tossed them onto the ground. The raven hopped forward, snatching them up. "Better than the pigeons, though."

Ana smiled. "Aren't they beautiful? Their wings are so dark, they get all those different hues on the tips. The pigeons don't look anything like that."

"Yeah, all two of them are really boring," Jack muttered, looking at the two poor ones left. Ombric was wisely taking them home later that day. The pigeon idea had clearly not worked out. Ana raised an eyebrow at him and he put his hands up in acceptance. "Hey, they look good. I'm just saying I'm not the best judge of birds. At least we have something to do with scraps of food now."

-.-.-.-

**March 1**

Ana sat on the edge of the roof, feet dangling into open space. It was Claude and Caleb's house. The two were just as excited as Jamie about the Guardians and there would be two of them to share the story about the Sandman visiting. They were testing the "Dreamsand", as they had begun calling it. Sandy was inside, painting the first drawing on now. The two were soccer fans, so Sandy was sketching a game across the walls. It was a story, beginning at the door, going low near the floor on the first wall, spiraling up onto the ceiling, arcing down onto the opposite wall, and turning around to end by the window. It would take him a while to do, but it would be totally worth it to see the kids' expressions.

Something shifted below. She glanced out into the backyard. There was something moving there, definitely. She stayed where she was, not wanting to attract any attention to herself just yet in case it was one of Pitch's people. It could just be a dog, and moving would make it start barking at her. They were still figuring out how to deal with them. Aster had been chased out of Jamie's home by their greyhound last time. While it had been amusing, the dog had woken up the entire house with its barking and if the parents had realized why, they might have seen Aster jumping over the back fence as he left.

A quick glance behind her showed that Sandy was midway through the second picture on the bottom wall. It looked like he was only going to be able to do one dream a night at the rate he was going, maybe two if they really crammed it in. Hopefully, once the kids started warming up to the idea, they would go to sleep faster and be sure to leave their windows unlocked. While the Guardians had learned how to pick the lock, it was hard to get them locked again to avoid suspicion. However, it was a double-edged sword. The locked windows also gave Pitch and his people trouble. There wasn't any way to let one group in and keep the other out without letting the children in one the secret.

A figure darted out from behind a tree, dropping to the ground and hurrying forward. She watched it, tensing as she recognized Onyx. The other teenager glanced up, spotting her in return. Both froze, evaluating each other. Ana was already here, and it didn't look like Onyx had any backup. She was going to have to back off. A few moments passed as Ana waited, looking as stern as she could. Sure enough, Onyx slipped back the way she had come, scurrying off in case Ana decided to give chase. She was gone, slipping over the fence a moment later. Ana smiled to herself, bringing her legs up and keeping a closer watch on the backyard, just in case. North was starting work on the house tonight, dragging supplies out to the forest with Wind. Aster and Jack were patrolling in another neighborhood.

Sandy came out a few minutes later. He tapped Ana on the shoulder. She smiled and nodded, moving to the roof above the room. It wouldn't do for the children to look out and see her. Sandy went back into the room and turned on the light. He heard one of the boys mutter, trying to pull the pillow over their eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled the blanket off and scampered out the window as quietly as he could, not even bothering to shut it behind him. He had just gotten around the wall when he heard the boy he had woken sit up in bed and gasp. "Caleb! Look, look! The Sandman!"

The other boy looked around. "Woah!"

Sandy grinned. Ana reached down and helped pull him up. The boys scampered around inside, looking over every inch of the pictures. "That's you!"

"Hey, look at that kick! Bet you wish you could do that more often."

"How'd he get onto the ceiling?"

"Floated! Duh!"

"Jamie's going to be so jealous…"

"This is _awesome_!"

"I hope he comes again!"

"I'll bet he will! This is so cool."

The talking went on for another half hour as the two marveled over the drawings. They settled back onto their beds, probably waiting for something else to happen. Sandy and Ana waited, making sure they were done examining the pictures before quietly climbing back down to the window. Sandy held a canister with a fan attached to the end next to the window. He turned the fan on. It spun quietly, blowing gas into the room. The wind helped, pushing it in. The colorless gas permeated the clean air, and the boys began breathing it without realizing the difference in their excitement. They went to sleep a few minutes later, slumping over on their beds.

Ana and Sandy exchanged excited looks, entering the room again. They made sure the boys were sound asleep before spreading plastic under the walls. The sand rubbed off, falling onto it. They moved around, making sure every last bit was gone. It had to seem like it was just a dream, something that the kids could neither prove nor disprove. It took a lot less time than it had to put up, and they were wrapping up the plastic and stuffing it away into Sandy's backpack a moment later. Tonight had been a success. They left, closing the window behind them and turning the light off. The kids would wake up in the morning and spread the word about the Sandman.

They were walking back to the warehouse now, satisfied at a good night's work. They made a quick side trip to Kyle's house, having heard him tell his friends as he walked home that he had lost a tooth. Ana slipped a quarter under his pillow and took the tooth. His parents had clearly not been in and it was three in the morning. Sandy smiled as she climbed down the side of the house and they continued on. The guise of being fairytales had been stupid at first, but it was becoming a better and better cover as the weeks went by. They were having too much fun to imagine ever doing anything else.

Sandy glanced up, spotting a flash of movement. He pointed. Ana followed his gaze, seeing one of the ravens crouched on a tree branch ahead of them. "Ah," she said. "Aster and I were patrolling on the way home and didn't feed them. Ran into one of Pitch's guys. I'm surprised she followed us all the way out here."

Sandy gave her a surprised look. She flushed. "I've learned to tell them apart. I think they're mates, since ravens mate for life." Sandy smiled at her enthusiasm about watching the two birds. The raven flapped its wings irritably. She sighed at it. "I don't have any food!" she said apologetically even though it couldn't understand her. "I'll feed you double tomorrow!"

The raven settled down, cocking its head to one side at her. A few moments passed as she walked underneath. The bird stared at the spot Ana had passed, no longer focusing on the one who had been feeding her. Ana kept shooting looks up at it, surprised by its apparent lack of interest. She stopped suddenly, an idea coming to mind. The raven shuffled its wings and then took off. Ana pushed Sandy to one side and jumped the other way.

Onyx missed, skidding to a stop as she jumped past. Pitch grabbed the back of Sandy's sweater, hauling him back a step. Ana threw a punch at Onyx before she could get closer, getting her away. Sandy elbowed Pitch in the side and slammed his head back, clipping Pitch's chin. He stepped on his foot at the same time. Pitch let go long enough for Sandy whirl, slamming his forearm into Pitch's throat. The man coughed, backing up. Sandy hit him with a left hook. Onyx stepped forward, but Ana swung out again before she could get close enough to do any damage. She shot a quick look in the direction the raven had gone, silently thankful she had been paying attention.

Pitch looked up, angry. "Is that any way to treat me after all we've been through together?" Sandy frowned and Ana made a confused sound. Pitch grinned. "You mean he hasn't _told_ you? We're – ah!" Pitch stumbled back as Sandy rammed into him, hooking his foot under his knee a moment later to pull him completely off balance. Pitch hit the ground. Sandy wagged his finger at him, then signed something with his hands that Ana didn't understand.

Pitch's eyes widened, clearly getting what Sandy meant to say. He stood up and stepped back. The threat Sandy had made evidently had hit its mark.

"What, you two are in a relationship now?"

Pitch gave Ana a look. She scowled back, unimpressed. Onyx edged closer, but Ana looked at her and stepped forward. Onyx stopped, not willing to step into range just yet. "Get out of here unless you want a fight," she snapped.

"Maybe that _is_ what we want," Pitch murmured, raising his eyebrow.

"Not right now, you don't," she growled. "Not the way you're fighting." Pitch's eyes narrowed, but Ana didn't back down. Sandy looked just as determined. "Your 'friend' is going to kick your butt."

Pitch and Onyx stared angrily at them for a few more seconds.

Then they faded away into the night.

With them gone, Ana turned and stared at Sandy. He looked back, expression a mix between a grimace and a smile. After a moment, realizing she wasn't going to give up, he wrote down on his pad of paper, '_It's not what it sounds like._' Considering it for a second, he added, _'Please don't _ask.' She frowned, a bit confused. He shrugged and put his finger to his lips. Ana nodded hesitantly, understanding that it wasn't her business. Even if they had known each other well before, it was obviously over now.

-.-.-.-

a/n: While a lot of these ideas have been elaborated until we're not sure who came up with it, the dreamsand idea was all **Zephyrus Genesis**'s. Was that not totally awesome?


	5. Chapter 4

**March 7**

"It'll get better," Ana said, smiling up at North. The Russian frowned, looking at her like she was insane. "Really, I'll be back outside tomorrow. The day after by the latest. Don't worry about me so much."

"Ana, ya look like yer goin' ta puke again."

"I feel like it too…"

North leaned away immediately.

"Wait until the doctor gives you the okay before you starting fighting off bad guys again, okay?" Jack asked. She couldn't see him between Aster and North. "The last thing we need is to have to go find your unconscious body collapsed in a snow bank soon. That'd really make for a bad day."

"An' just imagine if a kid found ya."

"Or Wind. Her head could explode. Just imagine the grey brain matter all over the place."

"Okay, now I'm definitely going to be sick."

"Jack, shut up before I make ya. The warehouse already smells like pigeon crap an' –"

"Now you've done it." They all looked away as a wet splatter came from Ana's direction. "Stop with anything even remotely gory for a while, alright? I know it's a little hard for you two, but I'm sure you can manage for a little while." She rested her head back on the pillow. North scooted the pot away from him, waving a hand in front of his nose to blow the smell away. "Shoo. I just want to sleep right now."

"Yer not sleepin'."

"That's because you're all talking to me."

"We're talkin' ta ya 'cause ya weren't sleepin' an' looked bored."

Ana suddenly looked up, glaring over Aster's shoulder. "Sandy, don't you dare use that on me!" and Jack scattered, but Aster barely had time to cover his mouth before Sandy sprayed the canister he used to knock the kids out at Ana. She was asleep a minute later, relaxed and breathing deeply without any worries.

Manny was going to stop by at the end of the day to see how she was doing. He had said that morning to contact him immediately if her temperature was five degrees over the norm because they wouldn't be able to do enough to keep it from rising further in their current living situation. As it was, they were already discussing moving her to Manny's house because there were several times during the day when no one was at the warehouse. It had been pretty much assumed that was the case, even if Ana was still adamant against the idea. Unfortunately, her temperature was steadily rising and she couldn't keep any food down. To make things worse, North's skin was flushed and he had commented on not feeling well. The rest had been banned from touching either of them and were staying as far away from either person as possible to avoid contracting the illness.

Aster backed away from the gas further, blowing out his spare breath to push away any more of it before he dared to breathe in. With only four of them – and one feeling sick as well – they didn't have any use for someone asleep. "Okay, Sandy's makin' up more 'a the Dream Sand," he said, using the title they had started calling the mixture by, "an' North's buildin' us a 'ome in the middle 'a nowhere. Jack – "

"- needs to figure out how to run electricity out to the home, so anything you need me to do can just wait a moment."

Aster rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just didn't expect ya to not be slackin' fer once."

"Slacking? I'm sorry, who took a five hour nap this morning when North and I were in a fist fight with four of Pitch's people?"

"Hey, I-"

North and Sandy exchanged looks and walked away, leaving the two to their arguing.

-.-.-.-

They did indeed move Ana to Manny's home by the time he got off work. Her temperature was well over a safe point and they were afraid she could get someone else sick. North ended up going with her so Manny could treat him before he got any worse. As a result, Jack was going to be on a shift around the neighborhood that night by himself. He welcomed the solitude, but he was worried about North and Ana. They had known that they had to be careful to stop something like this from happening, but the efforts they had made had obviously not been enough.

He made it back at the end of the day after spending so long looking for a way to get electricity out to where the home was being built. The problem stemmed from the amount of rivers and creeks in the area, as well as the rough terrain and the amount of animals that could chew through any wires. They could always bring a generator out there, but they would have to not only get it out there, but find a way to keep it working. At this rate, they were going to be doing that science fair project of harvesting energy from potatoes to get this to work.

A caw interrupted his thoughts before he went inside. He turned around, spotting the two ravens sitting on the branch. Aster had apparently not passed this way yet or they would have surely harassed him into giving them food. Jack sighed, opening the door and going inside. He returned a moment later, a piece of bread in his hand. The birds flew down and snatched the bread before he even put it on the ground. Stuck between amusement and concern for his mental well-being, he turned around and went back into the warehouse.

He grabbed his staff and a small bag of quarters. With the Tooth Fairy under with the flu, someone had to pick up the slack. Sandy and Aster would do the same, although they would probably only visit two houses. Sandy was fast, but not that fast. A detailed dream was different than a simple dolphin. They were going to have to learn if quantity or quality was better. Maybe giving a detailed dream was better for a child with a lot on their minds, but when no one was in need of specific attention, just painting something small might be enough to make them smile.

He set out. The ravens were gone, having eaten up the last of the crumbs and flown off. The sun was setting in his eyes as he walked towards the neighborhood closest to the school. They had broken in the day before Ana had gotten sick to make sure their records were all up to date, which had proved to be a smart move since they had made two changes about home addresses and four changes about after school activities that students participated in. The neighborhoods were spread out far enough that it was better to have to break in than to have to cross a few miles to find the right house.

Sometimes they would take bikes around, wanting to visit as many houses as fast as they could. Wind would help about once a week, ferrying them around. She ended up carrying Jack around the most, although no one was exactly sure why. Most of the time, though, they just walked. With Pitch not acting out as much, it was nice to have something relaxing they could do every day.

Jack started his rounds, checking to make sure none of Pitch's people were around. He caught sight of one climbing up the side of a house, but he ran forward silently and smacked their legs out from underneath them with his staff. They cursed and fell a foot, reaching out to grab the rain gutter with their hands. The man dangled in the air, glaring at Jack. The white haired teen gripped his staff tighter and stepped forward. The man dropped and took off before Jack could smack him again. Most of the interactions were like that. None of Pitch's people seemed to be able to put up much of a fight unless it was Onyx. They really needed to work on that.

It looked like the man had brought friends. Jack saw a few shadows dart between two houses, but they were gone a moment later. Pitch's people were much better at hiding than they were at standing their ground. He wondered what they were doing here, watching instead of leaving, but didn't mind so long as they didn't try and stop him. The shadows appeared on the other side of the street now, but he didn't think there were more than four of them, including the one he had knocked off the house. He could take on four.

"Guys, this is getting a lit-tle weird," he said, drawing out the adjective to make it more teasing. "Come on, are we all middle-aged guys stalking the teenager on his way home or something?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no response. He hummed a few notes to himself without having a song in mind, gliding across the snow with ease. Some of the driveways had been cleared off, but a snowfall in the afternoon had buried a few of them once more. Those that were cleared had ice on them, negating all the hard work that had been done. Jack stepped off the road and onto the sidewalk. He jumped forward, onto one of the driveways, and slid forward with his arms out like a surfer. His momentum took him a fair distance, and he spun once and jumped in the air to increase it. He kept sliding until his feet hit the snow on the other side.

As he slid across the driveways, increasing the distance he could go each time, he kept an eye on the shadows around him. They kept growing in numbed but weren't approaching. It was unusual for them to keep an eye on him like that. The Guardians had spotted someone tailing them once or twice, but they usually just let them be. There wasn't any point in attacking them when they were watching. If Pitch wanted to attack on sight, that was fine, but they weren't going to do it too.

He stepped off the sidewalk, footsteps quiet and light as ever. It felt natural to be outside in this weather, staff in hand and walking along the road without anyone noticing him. Snow had started falling and it wasn't cold enough to feel like he was going to freeze. For a few minutes, it didn't matter that he had nine tails and that he was steadily picking up more.

He paused, not bothering to hide his action as he spun in a slow circle. He recounted the people, making sure to get the one behind the Harris's trash can and the one on Lily's porch. When had he gotten seventeen people following him? He had been trying to act nonchalant, but apparently his act had fooled himself as well. There were way too many people on this street and not enough of him to fight them off.

He considered his options for a moment, bouncing on the balls of his feet for a moment and tilting his head to one side. The shadows waited, watching him for a moment. Jack frowned. This was clearly an ambush. For something this dramatic, Pitch had definitely orchestrated it. Pitch also liked seeing his hard work play out in front of him. So where was he?

Speak of the devil and you will hear his horse's doomsday hooves clopping on the snow covered street towards you.

Jack groaned silently, shoulders slumping as he saw the black horse turn the corner and come to a halt. Pitch was settled in the saddle with his dark cloak wrapped around him to keep warm, probably smirking his head off. This was just great. Not only did he have a limited amount of space to run in, any running he could do wasn't going to be fast enough when the one chasing him had a much faster ride than his feet.

Jack didn't waste another moment, sprinting towards one of the houses. Pitch and his shadows paused, surprised he was going to someone for help. Jack jumped, foot hitting the porch railing and propelling himself up. His hands grabbed the edge of the roof. He heard everyone start moving behind him, running out from their hiding places as they tried to grab him. Before the closest was able to make a snatch for his ankle, he had pulled himself and was running over the roof. He dropped down on the opposite side in the fenced in area. Pitch would have to ride all the way around the back to get to him now.

He climbed over the fence in the back and started running between two rows of house. The shadows were dropping down around him, moving swiftly over the fences and approaching as fast as they could. Apparently, they outnumbered him enough to feel safe. He sure felt like they had the right to feel that. Before they could get close enough, he backtracked and went back over the fence he had just climbed over. He unlocked the gate from the inside and ran out the front, letting the gate swing closed behind him and latching into place. The shadows were stalled for a moment by the unexpected gesture, but they were pouring out the gate behind him a few seconds later.

He crossed the street and ran between two houses. He ran around behind three before he hid in a small crevice in the side of one. The shadows ran past, looking for him somewhere else entirely. He waited until the last one had passed before running back out into the road. The forest was that way. The warehouse was closer and in a different direction, but he couldn't lead them that way and he was much better at losing them in the confines of the trees than he was at losing them in the sprawling mess of the suburbs. It hadn't taken too long for the shadows to realize they had lost their quarry, and one peaked out between two houses to spot him. She cried out to the others and they were after him a moment later.

Jack ran from the hunt, moving over roofs and between houses. They startled dogs and cats, scaring nocturnal creatures and causing enough noise to wake up a few people judging by the lights turning on every once in a while. They were in an emptier area now, almost to the forest. It was only a half block away. Jack lengthened his stride, a grin spreading across his face. This was going to be _fun_. With the river frozen and snow covering slick patches of ice, there was no way he wasn't going to be able to lose them and give them a few bruises to remember him by. Violence wasn't really his thing, but doing stupid stuff to the point where someone got injured was almost always hilarious.

Something dropped into view, wrapping around his midsection and lifting him off his feet. His breath went out of his lungs as he slammed into the ground, dragged backwards by the rope under his arms. He tried to dig his heels in, but the rope pulled him along. He only succeeded in losing a shoe and scraping his heels open on the ground. His clothing was getting steadily torn up and the skin beneath was already bruised without needing to lose that much skin. He would have cried out in pain if he had been able to breathe around the tight rope. His ribs were probably cracked from the force of it around his chest. Every other part of his body was getting knocked around as he was dragged along, trying to stop himself but unable to.

Glancing up, he caught sight of the rear end of Pitch's horse. He had the other end of the rope and met Jack's pained expression with a grin. Jack reached up to try and yank the rope out of Pitch's hands, but Pitch held on tighter. He turned away, looking forward again. He pulled to the right with one of his reins and the horse made a sharp turn. The rope was abruptly dropped and Jack skidded to a stop. He heard the hooves slow to a stop.

It took a great deal of effort to not groan as he wheezed on the ground. He looked up, not even sure he could stand. Before he could make the decision to try it or not, the shadows that had been following him closed in, grabbing his limbs and holding him down. He kicked out instinctually, but there wasn't much he could do besides cause small scratches or bruises. By the time Pitch arrived a few seconds later, he was stuck, unable to move anywhere. He glared, however useless it was.

"A lasso?" he spat out. "Really?"

"My weapon choice is hardly what you should be focusing on right now," Pitch said.

"Yeah? And what would you say my priorities are?" he said sarcastically, the effect almost entirely negated by how out of breath he was. Running that fast and that far had hardly been easy, but being dragged around by a horse wasn't the best idea for air flow either.

Pitch crouched down beside him, smiling. "If you're here and Ana and North are sick, then how many of you are there left?"

Jack gritted his teeth together, hearing Pitch laugh even as someone kicked him harshly in the head. The first time didn't work, but his world went black after the second hit.

-.-.-.-

The dream was of a unicorn prancing across a field this time, scaring off a horrible troupe of little gnomes that were threatening a castle up in the mountains. Aster watched from the window, dividing his attention between watching the Sandy and keeping an eye out from trouble. Sandy had started bringing a step stool so he could reach the ceiling and the highest parts of the wall, rather than using furniture already in the room. They were in the room of a girl who was new to the town, having only moved in last week. She had a gruff exterior because she didn't smile a lot and usually growled at the other kids, but her clothes were cheerful and her room was entirely pink. Maybe this would make her feel welcome.

Sandy finished his work and woke her up, hiding with Aster on the roof as she marveled at the drawings. They could hear her giggling and laughing, trying not to wake her parents but ecstatic over the "dream" none the less. The two of them smiled at each other as she danced happily around the room, examining every inch of the pictures with the fervor of an artist who had discovered a painting that had been lost for centuries.

They gave her half an hour to calm down before putting her back to sleep and erasing the dream. The plastic and sand went into Sandy's backpack and they started out the window, closing the window behind them. The drop to the ground was easy and quiet enough, and they were walking along the street a moment later.

Aster glanced across the asphalt at a man doing the same thing, despite the late hour. He was obviously one of Pitch's men, but usually, they weren't so forthcoming about being there, even when it was obvious that they were. Sandy had seen the man too and was frowning. He tugged on Aster's sleeve and came to a halt. If the man was going to try and push them towards an ambush, then they weren't going to fall for it. Aster stopped beside him, turning to face the man and make it clear that this was a game they weren't going to play. The man looked at them, pausing and coming to a halt across the road. They stared at each other for a minute, neither sure about who should make the first move. The man's gaze flickered over their shoulders.

Aster glanced behind, seeing three more walking up behind them. From both ends of the road, there were more coming. It seemed like they were going to be ambushed anyway. Sandy kept glaring at the first man, more irritated about being stopped from getting to the next house than he was irritated about having to fight again. A bout with Pitch's guys was becoming a nightly thing. There was something odd about these people, though. They walked different and acted cockier than they ever had before. That, and Aster was pretty sure he could recognize all of Pitch's shadows by now. These people didn't even look familiar.

"You lost or somethin'?" Aster growled as the first man walked across the street and came to a stop in front of them. "'Cause yer definitely not where ya should be. Scat."

"It's funny that the Easter Bunny would have such a temper," the man said, amused. "Nah, we're not lost. Pitch has said he'll fund us if we give him a hand every once in a while. It sounds like he can't take care of five pesky over-sized rodents running around his town. Know of anyone like that?"

"The only rodents I see are the ones actin' like a pack 'a hyenas right now. An' let me tell ya, those things are annoyin' as hell." Aster stepped forward, a dangerous glint in his eyes and body poised to attack. "Run home before the lions eat ya up."

The man smirked. "We're not like Pitch's normal goons. We can actually fight for ourselves. And we outnumber you, oh…" He glanced around casually. "Eight to one."

"Great, that means ya have no confidence in yer fightin' skills whatsoever," Aster snapped. "I don't have time ta deal wi' ya tonight."

"Yeah, you really should be running along," the man mocked, sarcastically pretending he cared. "Your friend's out on the streets alone. Maybe he's the one who's lost. He could've run into some trouble."

Sandy's eyes narrowed and Aster tensed up further.

"After all, if you were the only target tonight, Pitch would definitely be here to watch."

Aster lashed out, punching the man in the face before anyone else could react. Sandy threw out everything he had, moving right into the mass of people and elbowing, kicking, kneeing, and slapping anyone he could. He didn't have the height or build to literally throw people into each other as Aster was doing, but he could certainly cause the same amount of damage. One of Aster's thrown people landed in the midst of his fight breaking the lull of monotony for a split second before Sandy grabbed someone's arm and twisted it behind their backs, shoving them headfirst into one of Aster's opponents.

The first man hadn't gotten up yet. Aster had hit him hard enough to take him out, and he was lying on the ground with someone else at his feet. Someone had landed on top of them after being log chucked through the air, and the back of their head had hit the ground pretty hard. A third person fell on Aster's side, not unconscious but just not willing to fight anymore. On Sandy's realm of things, the fifth person was just now crumpling. Aster reached over, slamming two heads together and stepped over them as they fell down, too dizzy to continue. Someone was running away, and as Aster and Sandy could focus on the individuals more, three more dropped.

Aster slammed one more out of his way, kicking him once in the shins and then kneeing him in the gut. He shoved him down, pointedly telling him to stay there with a simple look. The man didn't look like he was going to get up, less injured and more afraid of what would happen if he did. They both jumped as a crack split the air.

Aster whirled around as Sandy crumpled. His last opponent stood there, shocked by his own actions for a moment. He looked at Aster, scared by what he was capable of and the angry Australian.

Aster snarled, fast paces pushing him across the ground. He had the man – no, he wasn't a man, he couldn't even be older than Jack – in a vice-like grip a moment later, his shirt bunched up his fist. The boy gave a cry of pain as his feet left the ground, hands gripping Aster's arm in panic. The gun dropped from his hand. For a moment, the only sounds were the ragged breathing of the two of them and Sandy. The teenager's mouth was working furiously, open one moment to gasp in breaths and closed the next to frantically gnaw on his lip.

Damn it, there was no way he was older than Jack.

Aster threw him backwards. He skidded a few yards, sliding across the snow and thumping to a stop against a mailbox. He looked up in surprise, having expected Aster to rip him to shreds right in the middle of the street.

"If I _ever_ see you again," Aster snarled, "nothing will save you."

The boy scrambled to his feet and sprinted away. He was gone before Aster even turned around to look at Sandy.

Part of him wished he hadn't looked.

There was so much blood.

-.-.-.-

"You should be fine," Manny said as North hopped off the counter. "Stay here for the night so you don't get the others sick and so I can make sure you're really going to be fine. I don't think they'll need you tonight anyway."

"When should Ana start getting better?" North asked.

Manny paused. "That… I don't know. I hope soon, but only time will tell."

North nodded, frowning at the ground. "She's still asleep?"

"Yes-"

The back door slammed open. "_Manny!"_ Aster screamed.

North and Manny sprinted out of the kitchen and to the back of the house. They nearly ran into Aster in the hallway, but North put out to hands to stop Aster before they could. Aster was breathing hard, looking like he'd run the entire way. He looked like a mess, with blood streaked across his left cheek and hands torn open from a fight.

Even worse than him was Sandy. The small teenager was clenched tightly in his arms, blood dripping down onto the floor from his stomach. Both of his hands were pressed against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. He was grimacing in pain, head lolled back against Aster's shoulder. His face was white and he was shaking from blood loss and the lack of adrenaline.

Manny barely paused, pulling Aster forward into the kitchen. North ran ahead of them, grabbing the table cloth and hauling the leftover dinner plates off that way. Aster laid Sandy down on the table while Manny hurried to go get his medical bag. North lifted the shirt to unveil the wound, putting pressure on it as soon as he found it. Aster went to the sink and scrubbed his hands with soap and water, filing a pot with water as soon as he had. He grabbed a clean washcloth and replaced North, holding the cloth over the wound and pressing down with it. North cleaned his hands and returned a moment later.

Manny entered the room, pulling a chair out from the table and setting the bag down. He began pulling out supplies and handed them to Aster, who moved to start cleaning them off to avoid infection. Sandy's hand shot out, suddenly, to grab Aster's arm.

"Jack," he said unsteadily, panting. "Pitch…" He broke off, trying to get his breath back.

North gave Aster a confused look. "One of the guys who attacked us very strongly hinted that Jack was attacked tonight," Aster said hurriedly.

Manny shoved the rest of the equipment at Aster and grabbed the phone off the hook. He tossed it at North, who grabbed it out of the air and dialed Wind's number. It rang several times until the dial tone came on. North swore in Russian before trying again.

"This is my fault, I'm sorry," Manny said wearily. "I should've known he would try something."

"No way ya coulda known," Aster said as Manny injected Sandy with something to knock him out. The teenager slowly relaxed into sleep. "Let's just worry about getting' Sandy back to normal. Jack can handle whatever Pitch throws at 'im."

"He told me that you guys would be dealt with by the time the month was over," Manny said wearily. "He's not one to make idle threats."

"Don't worry about it. We shouldn't 'ave slacked off an' gotten sloppy," Aster said. "D'ya think ya can fix Sandy up?"

"Let's find out," Manny said grimly, reaching into the blood.

-.-.-.-

Wind pulled up an hour later. She had gotten home and found twenty-four missed calls, all from Manny's house. Her cell phone had been broken while sparring, otherwise she would probably have found a similar amount of alerts there too. As soon as she had seen the calls, she had driven straight to the house without even bothering to check the voicemail. She ran inside, fearing what she would find.

It was worse than she expected. Blood was splattered over the kitchen table and floor, and Sandy was almost unrecognizable from the paleness and the sheen of sweat and blood covering him. The other three all had tense, panicked expressions as they worked over him. Without asking, Wind went straight to the sink and started washing her hands.

"No!" Aster said sharply.

"What?" she said. "I want to help!"

"Jack may be worse," North said. "Pitch may have attacked him. We do not know where he is."

"He never returned to the warehouse?" Wind asked, backing towards the door.

"_We_ haven't had the time ta return there," Aster said, "so there's no way to know. We need someone ta check an' go after Jack if he's gone."

"Where was he patrolling?" she demanded.

"You know where the Harris's live?"

"Around there?"

"Yeah."

"I'll call you," she said and then ran out the door, slamming it closed behind her. She was out of the driveway a moment later, pushing past the speed limit to hurry to the warehouse. It took her eight minutes to get there, and she was unsurprised to find it empty. She was to the Harris's house even sooner, pulling to a stop outside. She threw the door open and ran out, scanning the ground. The nice thing about it being winter was that she could clearly see the footprints crisscrossing the road. She followed them, through several backyards and over multiple fences.

She searched for four hours, until the sun came up and it was obvious she wasn't going to find them. The fallen snow had long since covered their tracks, leaving no way for her to follow them the rest of the way. Whatever had happened and wherever they had gone, she had no clue. Right before she was about to stop, a glimpse of brown-on-white caught her eye.

Jack's staff was lying broken in the snow.

-.-.-.-

**March 8**

Ana was laying on the couch, trying futilely to sit up. She couldn't see the kitchen from where she was and she found it frustrating. Everyone kept giving her vague answers whenever she asked how Sandy was doing. She didn't really need anyone to tell her, though. The ashen expressions on everyone's face was enough of an answer to know he wasn't doing well. Even worse, Manny and North were talking in hushed voices in the kitchen, but she had heard the word "hospital" when Aster had helped her past the room and to the couch. If they were even thinking about taking him there, things must have been looking extremely dire.

Wind had been gone for hours, and with each minute Aster was growing increasingly twitchy. It hurt Ana to see him so upset, looking horribly similar to his situation when his parents had died and his brother had been in a coma. He was once again waiting for word on two people very close to him to know if they were going to survive or not. In fact, he was even sitting by Ana's metaphorical bedside and waiting for her to be well enough to move again, just like he had while waiting for his brother to wake up. His face was drawn and tense, hands tightly gripping his knees. He stared at the opposite wall, not willing to look around and face Ana in case she got worse.

Ana reached out, grasping his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Aster," she murmured. He looked at her in surprise. She gave him a hesitant smile. "Your life kinda sucks right now. It's going to be okay. Sandy's stronger than he looks, and Jack's been on his own for a long time. He can deal with whatever's thrown at him. Everyone's going to be okay. You'll see."

Aster gave her a strained smile, grateful for her attempt at soothing his nerves. "It's not about me."

"But you wish it was."

Aster flinched. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Sometimes I wish I was the one who died in the car crash, or the one who was in a coma."

Ana sat up with a wince. Aster looked worried, trying to make her lay back down. She swatted his hands away and placed hers on his shoulder. She looked at him, hard, as if there was something she wanted to say. After a moment, though, she leaned back, realizing there was nothing _to_ say. She sighed. "Get some sleep. You look like crap."

He smiled wryly. "Thanks. You too. Don't puke on me if I lay down next ta the couch."

"I make no promises."

"I'll put my feet below yer head, then."

"I'll try to aim between them."

"Appreciated."

North walked in, frowning. They both looked at him eagerly, waiting for the news he was surely bringing. "Wind called," he said hesitantly. "She needs to go to work and she will be on the lookout for him as soon she starts patrolling. She is going to convince her partner to look for him too, but she does not know how she will do that yet. Jack's staff was on Isla Avenue, but that was all she could find."

Aster gritted his teeth at the delay but bit back any remarks. North wasn't going to be able to do anything about it. "No sign at all?"

North shook his head.

Aster stood up. "That's it, I'm goin' out." North and Ana both grabbed his arm to try and stop him. He snatched it away angrily. "Don't stop me! Pitch 'ates 'im. I don't even want ta think about what he'll do ta 'im."

"He also hates _you_," Ana said. "He hates you two more than the rest of us, and he knows you two are good friends. He knows you'll go after him. Don't play into his hand, Aster. You're afraid about what he'll do to Jack, but I'm terrified of what he'll do if he has both of you. With only North and I able to go after you, there would be no hope we'd ever get you back."

"Ya mean wi' only North."

Ana huffed. "I'm sure I could get up if I really set my mind to it."

"Great. You'll be able to stand. That'll do a lot."

North put a hand on his shoulder before he could continue. "Ana is right. You will just cause more trouble if you go out alone. Wait until we know how Sandy will be. I will help you look as soon as we know Manny will not need our help with any complications. Wait a few hours. It will be okay."

"A few _hours_?!" Aster yelled. "Jack could be killed in the next few _minutes_ an' ya want ta wait _hours_?! There won't be anythin' left 'a 'im _to_ save!"

"Aster…"

"No, Ana, I'm going."

"Aster!"

"Don't try an' stop me!"

North grabbed him from behind, getting him in a choke hold. Aster growled, kicking backwards and smacking North with his hands. The Russian dodged most of it, holding on as his struggles got weaker and weaker. Ana looked on, not even sure who she should side with. Aster tried to wiggle free, but his air supply ran out before he could succeed. He finally slumped down in North's grip.

North checked to make sure he was actually unconscious before setting him down on the floor. Ana sighed. "He really can't go after Jack, can he?"

"He will only get himself hurt," North said dismally. "We have to worry about Sandy now. Jack will be able to hold his own until we can get there. Pitch will not kill him as long as he can use him as a bartering chip. Jack may be who he hates the most, but he knows we will fight harder if Jack is killed. He also knows Wind works for the police and will go after him with everything the force has. No, Pitch will not kill him yet."

Ana bit her lip. "I'm worried, too. About what Pitch will do to him. Even if Jack isn't killed… At least Emma isn't in Maine anymore. Pitch can hardly use her against him."As she spoke, North pulled out a pair of handcuffs Wind had given him to restrain any of Pitch's people so she could arrest them later. He put one link around Aster's wrist and the other around the leg of the couch.

"We are here, though. Jack does not know what happened to us," North said.

Ana leaned back, closing her eyes. "I want this to be over. Why are we doing this?"

"Because no one else will."

She smiled weakly. "And we were the only ones stupid enough to nominate ourselves?"

"No, we were the only ones brave enough." She opened her eyes and North gave her a small smile. It faded and he looked down at Aster. "But… I think…that I am beginning to believe this job will take our lives."

-.-.-.-

a/n: Pitch's guys suck at fighting because the nightmares in the movie really didn't do much other than stand there, unless they outnumbered their opponent by thirty to one or something crazy like that. Obviously, the ratio won't be so exaggerated in here as to when they'll stand and fight and when they won't.

We had no intention for Aster's situation to come out so similarly to the time with his family, but it did and we jumped out the opportunity. As Ana said, his life sucks. Oh, and Wind's partner, Nimoy? He's not random. ^.^

Jack's staff was found on Isla Avenue. The actress who voiced Toothiana is named Isla Fisher.

**Zephyrus Genesis** decided we needed to be more creative about injuring people, so Jack got lassoed. He will most likely riddle her with snowballs as soon as he stops by her home to get revenge for being dragged through the snow by a horse. (**Zephyrus Genesis**: "Too bad I don't get snow more than once every five+ years at home ^_^. And never enough to make so much as a single snowball." This will be one of those years.)


	6. Chapter 5

**March 8**

Despite what one would have first assumed, it wasn't being restrained that annoyed Jack or the fact that he couldn't get free to find out where he was.

In was the fact that he couldn't move.

Pitch knew that, obviously. It was the reason why he had tied all of Jack's limbs to the same spot instead of to each other or to different parts of the room. He knew Jack craved to be able to move above anything, as he was always pacing and fidgeting if he was confined to a room for any measure of time. While restraining him was bad enough, forcing him into a cramped ball to the point where he was unable to move even a few centimeters was worse. If he got out of this, he was going to be really sore tomorrow…

Pitch had already come in a few times. Jack had had his eyes closed twice, since the room wasn't dark and there wasn't any point in keeping them open, so Pitch had assumed he was asleep. Jack hadn't felt the need to enlighten him. The third time, Jack had once again had his eyes closed, but had set a plate with a sandwich and a water bottle down on the ground in front of him. There was no way he would be able to reach it, let alone eat, but that was the point. Jack didn't try, not wanting to give Pitch the satisfaction of watching him fail at it.

The door opened again. Jack was once again resting silently on the ground with his eyes closed. Pitch didn't care this time, walking forward and kicking him. "Wake up, Frost," he snapped. "You're not here to catch up on your beauty sleep."

Jack cracked open one eye. "I've been awake for the last few hours, you idiot. I never _said_ I was asleep."

"Saying you're asleep defeats the purpose."

"How do you know? Did you ask? Maybe if you had I would've told you I was awake. But no, you were rude and left."

Pitch crouched down next to him. He grabbed Jack's head and lowered his voice. "Do you really think I care about whether I'm being rude or not?" he said. He'd never had to raise his voice to sound deadly. When they had gone to school together, Jack had always thought Pitch just sounded that way and would never have actually been able to kill someone in cold blood. He knew differently now.

"It would clash with your style," Jack said. "What do you want?"

"I'm going to hurt you."

"I figured that out for myself."

"In more ways than one."

"Got that, too."

"You'll be screaming and crying by the end."

"I doubt it, but continue."

"And I'm not going to lay a single hand on you to accomplish it."

Jack paused. "Okay, I'll admit I didn't see that coming."

Pitch smirked. "You don't care if I hurt you or not. Your father almost beat you to death and you were more worried about the fact that Aster probably thought you were weak. Aster did have to beat up your dad for you to get him off, after all."

"Ah, good ol' Aster. He's got a hell of a right hook, doesn't he?"

"His left one hurts more."

"You'd know."

Pitch grimaced.

"Anyway, you left of at pain, screaming and crying, no violence."

"Yes. I'm going to break you."

"Without beating the sanity out of me."

"You're running around town in the middle of night pretending to be fairytales. _What_ sanity are you talking about?"

"They call you the Bogeyman, you know."

"Don't mention that again or I'll scrap my plan and beat your brains out."

"Wow, that's a touchy subject."

"I'm serious."

"You have that look to you."

Pitch took a deep breath, trying to steer the conversation back. The worst part was the he knew he was at much fault for it going off the track as Jack was. "As we speak, Ana is ill and Sandy is fighting for his life. I asked some old associates in Harrisville to come help, and one of them shot him. Neither North nor Aster is looking for you right now. Make of that what you will. They are all currently bunkered down at Manny's house, but I don't have any interest in making an attack there. The warehouse has been raided and nothing is left for any of you there."

Jack frowned. "You know about the warehouse?"

Pitch laughed. "Jack, why do you think I've not been doing much this last month? You slacked off and fell into routines. We found out where you lived within a week. The only reason this attack took so long was because we wanted to be sure we would be able to separate all of you."

Jack would have shifted if he had been able to. "Okay, so you've taken three of us out but there's still two left."

"Four. Officer Cook is pretty pissed at me."

"Don't take it personally. She's usually pissed at everyone. She likes me, though."

"I doubt it. Now, Aster has a close relationship with you because arguing with you keeps him from focusing on his dead family."

"That's a grim outlook on things."

"Yes, but I would say it's at least partially true, if not mostly true. The point is that Aster will come after you and that will further separate the group. Once he shows up, I will inform him that you are suicidal."

"That's bull crap he won't believe."

"We'll see. It's true, which makes it all the easier. Anyway, you should hope he does believe it. I would much rather prefer the drama between the two of you to having to resort to violence. I don't like getting my hands dirty if I don't have to. If he doesn't believe me, I'll kill whichever one of you annoys me the most within the next few days, and then I'll use the other to make sure the other three don't give me any more trouble."

"That…sucks. Why fool Aster into believing that?"

"Because I want to make you suffer."

"And you're not beating me up because…?"

"If you hadn't noticed, Aster's got some serious leg strength and I am honestly afraid he would be able to get out of any restraints I put him in. He's rather sneaky, but he's also rather protective of his kin, which seems to include you for whatever reason. I'll threaten him with using the same abuse against you that your father used."

"Wow. You suck. And if he doesn't go for it?"

"Then I suppose I'll beat you both up in front of the other person."

"I think your blows would bounce off my ego."

Pitch smirked. "All smiles and jokes, as usual. Enjoy the feeling. It won't last long."

-.-.-.-

Aster glared at everyone in the room. His place from the floor was getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute, but no one would let him up because they were sure he was going to make a run for it. That might not have been the most outlandish idea, especially considering that that plan was at the forefront of his mind. Right beside it was the outraged thought that North had actually knocked him out. He had believed the man could do it, he just hadn't believed he _would_ do it.

Although he knew it said how steadfast the Russian was standing in his belief that he shouldn't go after Jack for a while, he didn't care. Sandy needed their help too, of course, but none of them would ever forgive themselves if they stayed here and Jack was killed because they were protecting Sandy from a threat that wasn't coming. Pitch didn't have the guts to attack Manny's house. The doctor was extremely well known and respected across town.

The front door opened and Wind came into the living room a moment later. She glanced around, seeing Ana on the couch and North in a chair and frowning for a moment as she noticed Aster on the ground. She looked at his wrist and realized he had been immobilized. Time was wasting and she decided not to ask. "I came on my lunch break. There hasn't been any sign of him and nothing strange is going on at the station," she said. "Any news here?"

"No," Aster snarled. "Hey, if she stays here for her lunch break, that means I can go out an' find Jack, right?"

Wind rolled her eyes. "Right, because me searching the entire town for hours is going to be a total waste of effort while you looking for half an hour is going to help immediately."

Aster shot her a look. "Pitch doesn't care about ya. He'll be pissed enough at me that he'll snatch me off the street if I'm out there."

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh, that's an _excellent_ plan, that really is. Not only can Pitch torture and kill Jack, he can have his closest friend to torture and kill too! I'm sure that won't be like a day to the carnival for him or anything! Just imagine all the different ways he'll be able to use you two against each other. I'm sure he'll be delighted. In fact, he'll be so happy he'll just let you both waltz back home. Is that what you're planning?"

"Sarcasm isn't helpin'. No, if I they grab me, someone can follow Pitch-"

"Didn't you just say that if I stay here for my lunch break, you can go find him? If we're all here, who's following you?"

Aster growled. "Well, I suppose North is, since he seems ta be more capable than ya."

"Stop it, you two," Ana snapped. "This isn't helping. Look, I'm sure there's another way we can find Jack that doesn't involve putting anyone in a dangerous situation."

"Right, because this entire plan of yours has been safe and everyone has always come home without a scratch or a bruise," Wind said, folding her arms. "Yeah. Silly me. All of your plans go through without a hitch. I'm sure Jack will be fine. Let me know when I need to come with body bags to collect you guys."

Ana sighed. "Wind, where have the police looked for Pitch before? Where should we _not_ look?"

"I don't see how that's going to help when you don't have enough people to raid the place."

"The police can-"

"-raid the place, arrest everyone, and find Jack, who's supposed to be dead and will face multiple charges in a criminal court. Oh, and if he's not dead, but the rest of you were supposed to be too, I suppose that means _you_ aren't dead either. That's all well and good, though, so long as you don't care about the kids' image of the fairytales that are protecting them."

Ana rubbed her head. "Okay, I guess we're going to have to find a way to sneak in and grab him, then."

"Yes. Of course. Sneak in _where_, exactly?"

"That's what I was asking you about earlier!"

"Wind, just give us a straight answer instead 'a bein' so bloody patronizin'!" Aster snapped. "Yer no use like this!"

"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me," she spat. "I'm beginning to think it would have been smarter to not help you in the first place. I don't know why I ever thought a bunch of teenagers like yourselves could pull this off. Incompetent and immature, and _way_ in over your heads. How much closer are you to stopping Pitch than you were at the beginning? Is he getting weaker? It doesn't seem like it."

"His power hasn't grown at all since we entered the picture," Aster snapped back. "I don't know if you remember, but he had been expanding pretty rapidly before."

"He's not shrinking, though."

"Are ya goin' ta help find Jack or not? All I hear is a bunch 'a whinin'."

"I'm telling you, there is _no way to find him_," Wind said heavily. "I have looked _everywhere_ and there is no sign of him. I don't know what to do. That's what I've been saying, but you're not _listening_. There's no way to find him."

Aster yanked his arm, trying to pull the handcuff off again. "Lemme out, Wind! If I get caught, we have a chance of findin' 'im! An' that's more than what we 'ad before."

"No, it's not," Ana said firmly. "Because we're just as likely to lose you, and that's worse than having Jack gone. We can't take that chance, even to get Jack back. I can't stand having two of you missing"

"Ana's right. I'm not allowing anyone else to get put in danger. That includes you," Wind said, leveling a glare at North, who had remained suspiciously silent and had had his head turned to look in the kitchen the entire time. She paused. "Are you okay? North?"

He looked at them. "Hm?"

"You're being really quiet."

"I was just listening to Phil tell Manny where Pitch is."

They stared at him for a moment. Wind strode into the kitchen a moment later and Ana hurried to stand up, moving unsteadily across the floor despite her obvious weakness. Aster floundered on the floor for a moment, unable to follow the rest of them in. He listened impatiently as he heard the conversation continue in the kitchen, surprised tones jumping up every few seconds.

"Hey! Move it in here!" Aster yelled. They became quiet. "Unless you want me dragging the couch in there!"

The group moved into the living room a moment later, silently filing in. The first four were the ones who had already been in the house, but the fifth person was someone he had also seen in the last twenty-four hours. "You!" he yelled, pulling at the handcuff again.

'Phil' jumped as soon as he heard the yell, looking wildly around for Aster. He paused when his gaze fell on the Australian on the floor. That didn't stop him from wincing when he saw Aster's murderous expression. "Um…"

"Manny, he's the one who shot Sandy!" Aster slammed his arm against the ground. "Blasted handcuff…"

"Yes, he was just telling us that," Manny said. "That's why he's telling us where Jack is at."

"I don't believe it," Aster growled.

"Weren't you just searching frantically for any idea of how to find Jack?" Wind mused.

"Shaddup!"

"Look, let's just hear him out first," Ana said. "It won't do any harm. We really don't have any other options."

"_He_ doesn't need ta know that!"

Phil glanced around nervously, gaze flickering between everyone in the room. "Look, I can go… I was going to leave town but I just thought… before I left…"

"It might be our only chance," Ana said. Aster groaned, rubbing his face with one hand. She sat down on the couch, looking like she might have fallen down otherwise, and looked at Phil. "Okay. Can you tell us where he's at?"

Phil nodded. "There's only a few ways to get there because you have to go through some parts of town where it looks suspicious for a bunch of kids to be walking there. It's really weird. We had to find ways to keep people from getting there and to keep it hidden. I can't really describe it; I'll have to walk you there myself if you want to get there without anyone noticing."

"That's only mildly suspicious," Aster muttered from the floor, but Ana kicked him to keep him quiet.

"I promise I'll get you there!"

"I don't doubt it. What worries me is _after_ we get there."

Phil slumped down where he stood, a considerable feat since he had already been pretty slumped over. He still looked like he was ready to bolt at any moment, afraid of everyone in the house. North put a hand on his shoulder, which didn't really help. "You will take us there," North said. He glanced at Aster. "We are wanting our friend back."

-.-.-.-

They set off as soon as the sun had set. Wind got off work and went to Manny's house to stay Ana, Manny, and Sandy while North and Aster went with Phil.

The path to Pitch's base was indeed a strange one. They passed in front of the town hall and by were moving towards the hospital, but then they abruptly went west towards the businesses in the town. Phil had been right. Seeing lots of teenagers going this route would have been very odd. There were enough roads in the town that it seemed like there could have been plenty of different ways they could have taken, but each time, it always seemed like this was the only possible path. They could only stick to the shadows to get to Pitch's base.

It took them an hour to get there from Manny's house, just from the many amount of times they doubled back in the direction they had just gone or went a way that wasn't helpful at all. Phil walked confidently, though, and for all looks and appearances he seemed to know what he was doing. They had yet to see anyone following in their tracks. In fact, no one else seemed to be out on the street. It was odd, being outside this late and not in the neighborhoods like they usually were. They felt bad for not being able to protect the kids tonight, but they had to protect one of their own first. Pitch was probably going to be too busy tonight to go out and do his job anyway.

They arrived at a small building on the outskirts of town. Aster was pretty sure he'd seen it before, but just hadn't ever really stopped to think about what it was used for. Phil had told them along the way that it used to be a lab owned by the Black family. Some of the chemicals they had made were what Pitch used now. Most of the building was underground, having been built to block out as much sound as possible. Some of the experiments had required loud machinery. Aster and North had exchanged unnerved glances at that point. That didn't sound like anything good. Phil had just kept walking, though, and they hadn't wanted to get left behind.

Now, they went their separate ways. Phil scurried away into an alley across the street. They saw him climb up onto the roof, where he could see them to make sure they had gotten out alright. Aster wasn't sure if that gesture was worrisome or not for their benefit but let it slide. North waited while Aster did what any sensible raiding party did.

He rang the doorbell.

The door opened. Onyx glared at him.

Aster pushed past without a word. She rolled her eyes and slammed the door shut behind him. He glanced around, taking in the surprisingly normal looking room. It had probably been made as a reception area for the CDC. "Wow, it actually looks…clean. Didn't see that comin'." There were a few of Pitch's people lounging around the room, but they sat up straight as soon as he entered. They looked more surprised by his entry than anything. One, however, didn't. A smug grin came over his face and a few of his colleagues handed over money. Someone apparently hadn't underestimated the Guardians.

He pushed open the only other door in the room and walked confidently into a hallway. Onyx followed behind him, not even trying to guide him along. She seemed to be more interested in seeing where exactly he planned to go off to without knowing where Jack was. Aster didn't care, figuring that he was farther in, past the outer core. At the end of the hallway was a dead end and a right turn. He took the turn. It only went on a few more meters before leading down a stairwell.

"This is even smaller on the inside than it looked outside," Aster muttered, starting to descend.

Onyx rolled her eyes behind him. "He's not down there, you idiot," she sighed. "You can look, but there aren't even rooms down there. He's up here. You're not walking out with him, though."

He climbed the stairs again just to get into her face. "Oh?" he said, although from his tone he wasn't expecting an answer.

"You're not leaving and Pitch wants to talk to you," Onyx said. "He'll be here in a moment. He was just asking people to secure the perimeter and make sure you didn't just walk out with Jack. _That_ would be awkward."

"Not my problem, though. Where is he?"

"Wait for Pitch. He's bringing Jack." She turned around and pushed a door open. Without looking to see if Aster was following, she walked in. Aster sighed in exasperation, knowing there was really no other choice. He stood outside the door, able to see into what looked to be an interrogation room. To his horror, which he tried to swallow but found himself unable to, he realized there was blood on the floor and in two long smears across the table and wall. It didn't help that Onyx looked a tad bit confused.

Pitch finally walked in a few minutes later. He had blood on his clothes and was clearly in a bad mood, but the eight people behind him were a bigger motivation for Aster to get into the room. He wasn't sure he'd be able to fight off all ten in his wearied state _and_ get Jack out. Meanwhile, Pitch took several calming breaths before starting to speak.

He laced his hands together behind his back. "You were unaware of this, certainly. A while back, Jack almost drowned, and would have had you not saved him with the staff he now carries around."

"Stop beatin' around the-"

"Jack's been suicidal for years."

Aster stopped. He stared at Pitch.

"Bullshit."

"He has."

"Did ya just pull that outta yer ass or somethin'?"

"He's been suicidal, Aster, you just never knew it."

"That's not true."

"You didn't save him from an accident, you saved him from a suicide."

"_Shut up!"_

Pitch smirked. "I'll go get Jack and let the two of you work out your problems."

"_You_ have problems!"

Pitch walked out. Aster glared as the guys left, ignoring the fact that he wasn't going to be able to do squat. They stared back. It was actually a bit funny because the eight foot tall, buff football players actually seemed intimidated by the look of one tall, lean street fighter who had already taken hits from one fight that day. The humor was pushed aside. The confused look on Onyx about the blood was really getting on his nerves.

The men finally parted as Pitch returned, pulling Jack along. Aster stepped forward quickly only to be forced back by four of the football players. Jack had many bruises already growing on his body, including a split lip and what looked like a broken nose. All of his clothes were blood stained and his arm had a long gash on it. Both of his wrists had bruises on them from a restraint, and one of them still had a handcuff on. He was limping, struggling to keep up with Pitch and trying to dig his heels in. Pitch responded by wrapping one arm around his waist, trying to partially carry him further. Jack thrashed, arms and legs jerking every which way. Pitch let him go almost immediately, dropping him and shoving him into the room.

Jack stumbled back, almost hitting Aster. He caught his balance and looked up, glaring at Pitch. Aster gripped Jack's arm to stop him from going at him, which would have involved getting through five other people first. Aster glared back at Onyx. "Uninjured, huh?"

She still looked confused. "He was supposed to be…?"

Aster frowned, looking at the other two. Jack had started grinning, and Pitch only glared harder at him. Aster's look became confused as well. "I mentioned it," Jack said smugly.

Aster and Onyx stared at him and Pitch blankly. "If you mention that name one more time…" Pitch threatened.

"What? You already said you'd beat my brains out if I called you that, and yet, my brains are still in my head."

"They won't be soon if you keep running that mouth of yours."

Aster tried his very hardest not to start grinning as stupidly as Jack was. It _was_ pretty funny to get Pitch this riled up over what appeared to just be a name. Jack grinned, reaching out to nudge Aster playfully as if to get him to join in. Aster rolled his eyes and started to brush him off, but realized the gesture had also been to get Jack close enough to lean on him. He stayed there, subtly taking some of Jack's weight. He did look like he was about to fall down.

Pitch looked at Aster but spoke to Jack. "As you assumed, he failed to recognize the truth. I guess that makes things a lot worse for both of you."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Stop pretending. You didn't like that idea as much anyway."

"I could entertain both."

Aster frowned. "…What?"

"What?"

"Rephrase that."

"…_What_?"

Jack bit back a snicker. Aster was still frowning. "The entertaining- nevermind."

Pitch looked confused for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Hell, you dirty-minded-"

"Hey, I'm not the one who said it!"

Unnoticed to them, Onyx was rubbing the bridge of her nose with one hand, exasperated.

Pitch glared. He gestured at one of the football players. They stepped towards the pair. Aster glared, arm raising protectively in front of Jack. The older teenager stopped, glancing back unsurely at Pitch. The "Bogeyman" gave him a level look. The teenager stepped forward again, less than a foot away from the two of them now. Pitch rolled his eyes and motioned towards the four of the others. They tried pulling Aster aside from Jack, but Aster's hand was up a moment later. Two of them jerked back in reflex, enough that he could shove his hand through the gap and grab onto Jack's arm.

Jack winced slightly at the pressure, and the first of Pitch's guys finally got to him. The teenager tried to pull them off further to no avail. He once again looked at Pitch for help.

Pitch sighed in exasperation. "Just handcuff him to the table, you moron."

"Yer not havin' a good day, are ya?" Aster asked, like he actually cared.

Pitch smirked. "I caught you two. That's all that really matters right now."

"Right now, until we cause even more trouble," Jack said. The teenager next to him took his wrist with the handcuff still attached and hooked it to the underside of the table. Aster's grip was growing steadily tighter. The football players looked like they were done trying to separate the two, to Pitch's complete exasperation. He would probably just let this slide because his people were just being so embarrassingly obvious about their fear of Jack and Aster.

Pitch gestured with his hand and the football players left, probably much to his own relief. Aster readjusted his grip, holding onto Jack's wrist instead for convenience's sake. "I am going to use you against your friends," Pitch said. "I don't have to spell it out. This whole 'Guardians' idea will be over within a few days. Jack is obviously not leaving anytime soon unless he wants to try and fit that piece of furniture through multiple doors or out a window, which won't be happening anytime soon. If you try to break off the piece that he is attached to, you will both be separated and will probably never see each other again."

"That's it?" Aster demanded. "We just stay here?"

"You will be able to walk around the entire building, actually."

"Why?"

"Because you won't leave without him. As soon as you left, we would know and would move Jack somewhere." He stepped forward, voice getting quieter. "Jack never feared his father, but you did. You always did, from the moment you realized what was going on. You were very afraid of him. He never was very coherent when he drank, and it would have been all too easy for an accident to happen to Jack. And accidents _did_ happen. How did it feel to walk into your friend's home and find him beaten?"

Aster lunged forward. Jack reached out, grabbing a hold of the back of his arm to stop him before he could get to Pitch. There were too many people who could back Pitch up here.

Pitch smirked. "Calm down, attack dog. You're not needed right now and the master says heel."

"Ya better hope we never get out 'a 'ere," Aster snarled.

"I don't think you will," Pitch replied simply. "Anyway. It's common sense. If you try to break out, run off on your own, tamper with anything we're doing here, or otherwise cause any trouble, you're going to see Jack in that state again real soon. Do you understand me?"

"Lay a 'and on 'im an' ya'll wish ya were never born."

"Aster, you stupid child, I never said _I_ was the one who was going to lay a hand on him. I have eight football players who are all too willingly to beat up defenseless balls and children."

"I'm sorry, did I just get referred to as a-?"

They ignored the very insulted teenager. "That promise extends out ta them too," Aster growled.

"Since when am I defenseless?"

"I thought you'd get this angry. Don't worry, we'll make sure you're in the room to watch."

"I'm sorry, '_child_'?"

"Ya know, it doesn't matter if ya follow through with that threat or not. I'll come after ya anyway!"

"Or was I being referred to as the ball?"

"Bunnymund, I seriously doubt you could come after me in your state. Besides, don't you have to get out of here to come after me?"

"I wouldn't count on it if I were ya."

"And isn't a ball defenseless without the adjective being needed anyway?"

"You might want to consider watching your mouth. It'll land your friend here in a lot of trouble if you don't keep it closed."

"What's yer problem wi' Jack, huh? Can't ya beat on someone else for once? Or is it just a fetish wi' 'im in particular?"

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Ew, didn't want to hear that. Thank you, Aster."

"I don't know, but I'm beginning to believe he's a masochist because he kept insulting me when I was already beating him up."

"_Hey_!"

Onyx sighed. "However entertaining this is, I have things to be doing." She walked out of the room, briefly glancing at the other three. Her voice drifted down the hallway as she moved away. "I expect that you do, too." The remaining three looked at each other, shrugging. She did have a point.

Pitch sighed. "Well, I've got a small empire to expand. Bunnymund, although you surely want to pester us, you may want to consider staying here with your friend." A smirk crossed his face. "He doesn't look too good."

Aster snarled as Pitch left the room, letting the door swing shut behind him. Jack held onto his arm, stopping him from going after him. "Let's figure a way out of here first," Jack murmured. "Spending the entire time arguing with him isn't going to do any good."

Aster paused. "Ya don't want me goin' after 'im."

Jack's eyes flashed in irritation. "I want to see you get him as much as the next guy!" Aster stared at him for a few more seconds before he shifted awkwardly. After another moment, he sagged slightly and blew out a breath, fixing his gaze to a spot on the floor. "I'd rather he lose his temper on you over something else, okay?" He glanced up and smiled slightly. "I'm already going to be holding us back. We don't need two injured."

Aster shook his head, remaining silent for a moment. "How badly are ya hurt? I know yer goin' ta lie, but tell me the important stuff."

Jack smirked slightly at Aster's words. "I don't know. I suppose I've got bruises all over the place, but I don't know for sure if anything's broken. I can walk and move both arms without too much pain, if that helps."

"Okay, so yer fine enough ta run for it if ya get outta here?"

"Yeah." He lowered his voice, the smile fading from his face. "Aster, Pitch has gotten…darker. I don't know when it happened, but he's…he's not the same. One of us here was bad enough, but with two, he can…he can play with our emotions a lot easier now and use us against each other. You have to go."

Aster shook his head. "No, not unless you're wi' me."

"Stop with the hero complex. It's okay, I'll get out later. I promise." He gave him a lopsided smile. "Would I trick you?"

"You always play tricks!"

Jack laughed. "Yeah, I suppose I do. Go on, I'll catch up later."

"That sounds a lot like famous last words."

Jack shrugged, that stupid smile still on his face. The worst part was that he knew it was so cheerful, it seemed like there was no way anything could go wrong. The little bugger _knew_ that. He shoved Aster playfully towards the door with a small laugh. The way he was acting, it really did seem like there was nothing to fear. "Go on," he said with a laugh, "it'll be fine." Aster paused, unsure. Jack tilted his head and grinned. "Don't give me that look. Just get going and I'll see you later."

Aster frowned, the spell suddenly broken. "Jack, hell, don't _do_ that ta me! I know what yer doin'."

Jack frowned back at him. "Just go. Before I kick you out."

Aster laughed and whacked Jack lightly over the head. "Shut up. I'll be back. Stay here."

"Going to go beat up the Bogeyman?"

"Goin' ta make 'im cry."

Jack snickered as Aster walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, he sighed and sat on the table. His body certainly was going to be different colors tomorrow. He had underestimated it a bit when he had told Aster there would be bruises. It would be fine while they escaped, so long as Aster didn't get himself killed in the next few minutes.

The door opened again. Jack looked up, already expecting it when three of Pitch's people walked in. All of them had just been in there a moment ago, getting bullied around by Aster even when they had the advantage. Jack waved with his free hand. Classic bullies, for them to come in while the bigger bully was away. Too bad for them that they didn't know they still weren't the biggest bullies in the room.

Jack opened his mouth for his first smartass comment of the next two minutes, after which he would make them leave.

He grinned a moment later. They hardly paused, used to seeing him so cheerful now.

That's why they weren't expecting to get slammed over the head and knocked out.

-.-.-.-

Aster always enjoyed a good brawl.

Before the business with the Guardians, he hadn't. However, being boys, immature, and stuck in a warehouse for days with little to do, he, North, and Jack had begun tussling almost every day to the annoyance of Ana and Sandy. It was lucky for them that they had started doing that at the beginning, because what had once been harmless sparring had turned into training that they had sorely needed during fights. As a result, tussling had become a normal thing for them and a random fight was nothing new.

Pitch stepped back, dodging a punch. He ducked underneath another one and stepped forward to throw his knee upwards. Aster turned and the knee barely nicked him. His arm caught Pitch's and shoved him forward, knocking him off balance. Without turning around, Pitch kicked backwards and threw an elbow at him. It caught Aster in the chest, but he returned with a quick jab to make him back off. Pitch stepped forward a moment later, right into another punch. The angle jarred Aster's hand, but he paid no attention to it and punched him again before he could duck it. Pitch took the blow but grabbed his arm, yanking him to the side. Aster kicked him in the ribs to make him let go before permanent damage could be done.

A crowd of Pitch's people were now watching the fight. Aster had certainly attracted enough attention, storming down the hallway yelling obscenities at Pitch. The fear monger had appeared less than a minute later, and the fight had started moments after that. The crowd had begun growing, but it didn't seem like they were rooting for either side. They assumed Pitch would win, but they just wanted to see a good fight in their off time that they weren't involved in. Aster didn't particularly care what they wanted so long as they were paying attention to something other than their jobs. Pitch seemed all too happy to distract the Australian. Aster was well aware that Pitch had sent the football players to the interrogation room to beat on Jack as a warning to Aster about wandering around, but he wasn't worried. Jack could take care of himself.

Aster was also aware about Pitch's odd movements. There weren't many people who would go to all the effort of capturing two people and then letting one wander around the base. The only kind of person who would do that would be someone who wanted to mess with their captive's minds. Sure, Aster was free, but he was going to have to remain in the cage to save his friend. As long as Pitch had control of Jack, there wasn't much Aster could do. It was one big mind game to Pitch, one to make both of them scared. Jack, for instance, was obviously frightened of why Aster had not been attacked by Pitch or any of his guys yet. Aster, on the other hand, would be afraid of doing anything that would cause harm to Jack.

Pitch threw a punch, but it went over Aster's shoulder. He ducked a hit from Aster, but threw a punch as soon as he was up. Aster caught it and twisted the arm so it was palm-up. He slammed it down on his knee. There was a loud noise as the two bones, weakened by the stress Aster had put on them by flipping the arm over, cracked. Pitch hissed in pain and lashed out with his other arm to make Aster back up before he could do more damage. Aster shot a glance over Pitch while he was distracted. North glanced back at him as he walked in. No one paid him any attention as he simply strode past into the building, heading towards Jack's room.

Pitch snarled and lunged forward. Aster ducked his angry hits, moving enough to keep him interested but not enough to make him realize something was wrong. He returned a few of them, but didn't want to overpower Pitch and end up with all of the guys around him piling on top of him. That would be no help. They needed to stay interested for just another few minutes, though.

Just as he was starting to get worried, he saw North walking back down the hallway with Jack beside him. They both waved at him before walking right out the door.

Talk about bad security.

He went back on the offensive, knocking Pitch back with just about every hit. It became obvious within a minute that Pitch was in real trouble. Someone reached out and snagged Aster's arm, long enough to delay one of his punches and allow Pitch to move in. Aster was able to shove him off, but as soon as he started attacking again, three other pairs of hands reached out to grab him. He tried to shake them off but they held on tightly as Pitch rained down a multitude of blows on him. It hurt and he knew he was going to look as bad as Jack tomorrow, but there wasn't much he could do about it. It lasted until the crowd got bored and Pitch decided he'd had enough. The hands finally let go of Aster.

He dropped down onto his knees as the crowd slowly faded away. Pitch crouched down beside him. They were both breathing hard. "Next time, think about your friend and not your pride," Pitch murmured. "I think you'll find that he's in worse shape than you are." He patted Aster on the shoulder and stood up. "You look pretty bad off yourself. You might want to see a doctor. Of course, that would mean leaving, and who knows what would happen to Jack…"

Aster waited a few minutes after Pitch left, just sitting there and getting his breath back. He sighed deeply, as if defeated, and slowly got to his feet, exaggerating his injuries. His limp was horrendously real, although it should have only been half as bad. The air rattled up his throat instead of the usual flow. He gave every sign of being in absolutely horrible condition and being unable to help Jack any longer. He walked out the door and into the night. A few of Pitch's workers snickered, thinking he had given up hope. For the next twenty minutes, this would be a huge morale booster for Pitch. That is, until they realized they had misplaced someone.

He caught up with Jack and North a few blocks later. They were sitting on the curb, waiting. He assumed at first that they were waiting for him and stood behind them, waiting for them to start walking. North smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down. "Sit! We are waiting for Manny. Phil ran off to get him as soon as I went in."

"Phil?" Jack asked.

"We'll tell ya later."

"That was the plan the whole time? Where's Sandy? Is he okay? Are _you_ okay? I mean, take a look in the mirror the next time you have the chance-"

"Jack, calm down," North said. "You will do no good panicking. We can answer questions later, but it is not worth taking risk when there may be some of Pitch's people around."

Jack nodded grudgingly. "Fine. Aster, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look like it."

"Some 'a Pitch's guys started helpin' after ya left."

"That's bad luck," Jack murmured.

"Nah, I pissed 'em off on purpose an' made my limp look worse than it is. Now they think I'm goin' ta the hospital an' not just leavin' ya wi'out good cause."

"Oh, so I should've said 'That's stupid' instead."

"Shaddup, yer outta there."

Jack pointed further down the road. "Headlights. Think it's Manny?"

"Let's back inta the alley in case it's not." Aster got to his feet and grabbed Jack's arm. North grabbed the other side and they pulled him up together to retreat into the ally. The car passed by. "Even if it was them an' they couldn't see us, they'll come by this spot again an' we can come out. …Jack?" he said as Jack suddenly wobbled. He and North both yelped as Jack suddenly dropped out of their hands and hit the ground.

-.-.-.-

a/n: Did anyone notice that Wind searched for hours and couldn't find him, but could find his staff? It's almost like she couldn't find him unless he had it…kind of like the movie…or like another piece of symbolism.

Phil was not supposed to represent Phil the Yeti. You'll see.


End file.
